The Coldest Heart
by Splash of Dreams
Summary: Sakura Haruno was once the most feared vampire of all time, but then an event changed her life forever. "I'm the one who made you who you were. You were my most prised possession. But then the Ruler killed you. And now you're here, one hundred years later. Human." SasuSaku. AU slightOOC
1. Chapter One

**A/N: This story was original posted on my other account 'KimmyLea', but I've moved, so I'm going to post the updated version here. I hope you guys like it! :)**

**Disclaimer – I do not own Naruto, but I own this plot!**

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What would you do if all you'd ever known was one big lie?

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_~Chapter One~_

_1894_

Two figures were sprinting on a cliff ledge in the dead of the night. The one in front, a child, had a white gold bracelet grasped in his hand. Without the knowledge of its owner, he had stolen the jewellery which had been buried deep inside a burgundy pouch. The owner, Sakura Haruno, cursed herself for leaving the pouch on a rock unattended while she had polished her weapon. She now chased the child at inhuman speed. The thief was a vampire child, a rare oddity. It was unusual for a vampire to be born. The boy had led Sakura to the ledge, with only two feet between the towering rock face and the ice-cold ocean. The ground crumbled away at their feet, not used to being trampled on due to its remote location. One slip up and they would be in the sea.

The child entered a hole in the cliff face. It was a reasonable sized cave; it even had a little stream trickling through it, running to the entrance of the cavern and catapulting over the cliff's edge, feeding the ocean. At high tide, this space would be flooded. Sakura stopped in the mouth of the cave while the boy ran on towards three people waiting for them.

_How could she have been so stupid?_

She had walked straight into a trap, lured by the little brat. She took a menacing step towards the boy, but the adults stepped in front of him, blocking Sakura's view. A growl formed deep within her throat. She recognised one of the men who were protecting the child. Every superhuman being knew this figure: the Ruler of the supernatural world. She'd always wondered what the point was in the 'royal' family, as they liked to call themselves. All they ever did was execute rogue creatures who threaten to uncover their existence to humans. Sakura thought it would be better if the humans knew they were not just myths in horror movies, then they may respect them more and they wouldn't have to cover their tracks everywhere they went. Instead of annihilating supernaturals that were very hard to kill, why not slaughter the humans that found out about the world in which they did not belong? She believed humans deserved to be killed, every last one of them.

Something clicked in Sakura's head. Ten years ago there was a big event that took place in the Palace: the arrival of a new life – a prince's life – the Ruler's son. She peered over the Ruler's shoulder to inspect the vampire child. He was around nine or ten, had raven coloured hair and eyes just like his father, deep onyx that stood out in his round, pale face. His eyes were wide, petrified of the well known vampire that had just been chasing him.

There was a woman who had her arms wrapped around the boy in a protective manner. She wasn't the boy's mother, who was most likely snuggled up in her Queen sized bed in the Palace, a wine glass filled with dark red blood at her side. Sakura would much prefer to chase her prey; it was the best part in her opinion. She vaguely recognised the woman with her red hair cropped short. She had once fought against Aya, but she had run away before Sakura could silence her.

The wind blew through the mouth of the cave, caressing Sakura's long bubblegum pink hair around her face. There was another thundering growl, but it came from the third adult in the cave, the only one who looked eager for a fight. Sakura could tell from the awful stench radiating off him that he was a werewolf. She despised the creatures, believing they were useless and had a double digit IQ.

"Sakura, Sakura, Sakura." The Ruler addressed her. The name Kaito Uchiha came to her mind. He looked tired, but his voice was calm and gentle. To say he was over three hundred years old he only looked to be in his mid-twenties. His black hair framed his high cheekbones; the same colour eyes boring into Sakura's green ones. The Uchiha was dressed in a plain white top and a pair of black trousers, perfect for fighting in as they allowed freedom of movement. Sakura, on the other hand, was filthy from her encounter with a couple of shapeshifters earlier on. "We've lured you here to offer a treaty. We want to keep the peace."

"If you really wanted to keep the peace you wouldn't order your offspring to anger me by stealing one of my possessions."

"In return for the treaty," Kaito continued as if she had never spoken, "I will resign from sending my men out to assassinate you." Sakura didn't respond. After all these years of being hunted she had never been fatally injured. She was sure she could handle a few more centuries.

"You know my answer."

"Sir." The werewolf started, but Kaito held up his hand to keep him quiet.

"In that case we will have to take your sword. It is a very dangerous weapon to humans and the supernatural alike." The Ruler said.

"Never." Sakura clenched her jaw, staring deep into those dark, piercing eyes.

"If you do not hand it over quietly we will take it by force." Sakura glanced once more over to the prince who seemed to cower at the tone in his father's voice.

"Why don't you take the child out of here, _Sir?_" She mocked. "This is no place for children. We wouldn't want to scar his pretty face, would we?" She didn't think the Uchiha would put his own son's life at risk, and an image came to mind of him wrapping the prince up in pillows and blankets.

"He's old enough now to see a real battle. He needs to learn what it's like to be in a life or death situation." He stepped towards Sakura. They were going to fight to the death? Bring it on, she thought.

"You're just throwing your life away, old man. I'm Sakura Haruno after all." Before anyone could say anything else, Uchiha lunged at her with a wooden stake. There were only three things that could pierce a vampire's skin, and one of them was wood. She leapt back, expecting Kaito to pull a stunt like that. The fact that it was three against one didn't bother Sakura either; she had won battles where there were nine of the Uchiha's men against her. She didn't take into account the boy, what could he know? Kaito brought another stake out of his pocket and held it in his other hand. Her hand hovered over her weapons hilt, but she hesitated, deciding not to use it yet.

He went to attack her again but she anticipated the move. She easily kicked him away, and he fell twenty metres away. He had managed to hang on to his stakes.

"Sir!" The werewolf shouted. Sakura turned just in time to see a fist nearing her face. It was the prince, who had plucked up the courage to join the fight, but Sakura flicked his arm aside and he fell to the floor.

"Fugaku, don't get involved!" Kaito ordered. He was up again but Sakura couldn't focus on him. Aya was running towards her, another stake in her hand which ended in a very sharp looking point. She punched her away, but Aya managed to nick her shoulder. It wasn't very deep, but it still stung. She didn't let it divert her attention though and ignored the pain. There was no time for pauses.

Aya dropped the stake and Sakura picked it up, pointing the sharpened point towards the red head's throat. The werewolf cursed behind them. Sakura grinned; she should have done this years ago in their last fight. She applied pressure onto the stake. Pain exploded in her back. The world around her went black for a second. She dropped the stake and rolled off Aya. When her vision returned to normal she found the werewolf standing over her. He had kicked her right in her coccyx and had a large smirk plastered across his face. Sakura really hated werewolves.

She growled, getting back onto her feet. The werewolf went to kick her again but she blocked it, shoving his foot away. He tried his chances with his fist but she dodged out of the way. A yelp echoed against the walls of the cave. The big bad wolf had just punched his comrade, Aya, who had been standing just behind Sakura, waiting for her chance to aid the werewolf. Sakura stifled a chuckle.

The werewolf apologised to Aya and turned back around to face Sakura. She glared, thinking about if only looks could kill, life would be so much easier. But then again, it would be a lot duller. He lunged again and knocked her off her feet and onto the floor with him on top. She cried out as her head cracked against the hard, cold floor. The ground was wet as she had landed in the shallow stream. Aya was walking towards her, stake in hand while Kaito dragged his son behind a boulder at the back of the cave. Sakura tried to shove the werewolf off her but he wouldn't budge. She was thankful that it wasn't a full moon; if he transformed now she would have a hard time keeping him from ripping her throat out. She cursed, lifting her knee up and hitting home. He grunted and rolled off her, clutching down below.

_Classic. _

She got back to her feet but Aya jumped on her so that she was in the river once again. _For goodness sake!_ A hot pain spread across her stomach. Aya was smiling down at her, just having thrust the stake into Sakura's abdomen. A snarling growl ripped from her throat and she grabbed the handle of her weapon, pulling it out of its sheath. She did it so fast that Aya didn't see a thing. She plunged the sword and her most prized possession into the chest of her opponent. Aya froze and then went limp, her dead weight pinning Sakura to the floor. She pushed her off and ripped the stake out of her stomach. She stood up to face Uchiha and the werewolf.

The Ruler's eyes twitched at the sight of his deceased friend. "You finally decided to get it out."

"It can't be that dangerous, it's metal! Metal can't pierce vampire flesh!" the werewolf exclaimed. Sakura's eyes narrowed. The werewolf looked down at his fallen comrade. "At least not normal metal…" Sakura pulled the sword out of Aya's chest and pointed it at the werewolf.

"Don't anger her, Jiraiya." Kaito warned. "That sword can slice through almost anything."

"My sword is a katana that has an oak core and oak fused into the metal." Sakura leapt towards Jiraiya but before she could reach him the pain in her stomach exploded. She was blinded by the sensation.

"You're not going anywhere with that wound." Kaito stated.

"You… wanna bet?" Sakura gasped, and shot towards him instead. The tip of her katana embedded into his side and he shouted out in pain. Jiraiya ran towards them, but Sakura slammed the hilt of the katana against the cave wall, causing a deep indentation in the rocks. The cave rumbled, and an avalanche of rocks fell from above, piling on top of Jiraiya. The blood curdling scream from underneath satisfied her. Jiraiya was trapped under the rubble, his right arm crushed. Sakura focused her attention on Kaito, whose hair had come out of place and was falling into his eyes, sweat pouring down his forehead. He was clutching his side where she had wounded him. Two down, one to go. The prince was still cowering behind the boulder, paralysed by the sight in front of him. Kaito attempted to stab Sakura with his stake, but once again she dodged. However, she didn't anticipate the fist that was aimed her way. The Uchiha's hand connected with her cheek and she flew backwards. She just managed to cut the blade into his shoulder before she hit the back wall of the cave, nearly knocked unconscious.

She could hardly move, the pain in her head and back from the impact immobilising her. She put a shaking hand to the back of her scalp and felt a warm rush of liquid running through her pink hair. She glared at the approaching man.

"My, Sakura, you are a mess." She was covered in blood from the wound to her stomach, and was soaking wet from the fall in the stream – twice – and her hair was matted with blood and dirt. She tried to get back to her feet but Kaito brought his stake down and angled it towards her throat.

"You should look at yourself, _Sir._" She smirked.

"Do it now before she knows what hit her!" Jiraiya gasped through his pain. He had managed to lift the boulders off his battered body, but his right arm hung limply by his side, blood dripping down it and splashing onto the floor.

Kaito applied pressure onto the stake, digging it in Sakura's throat. A trickle of blood dribbled down her neck, but no more pressure was added. The Ruler had his head in his free hand, and his eyes were closed in deep concentration, eyebrows furrowed. This was Sakura's chance to strike. Her katana was too far away as she had lost her grip on it when she fell. She could have punched his face but she risked him pushing the stake in deeper. Kaito then opened his eyes and stared at Sakura in astonishment.

"That was interesting." He said.

"What was?" Sakura asked. Kaito removed the stake from her throat and plunged it deep into her side, making her scream in agony. She instantly lost control of her body as it wouldn't respond. She gritted her teeth.

"What have… you done to… me?" She could hardly speak through the pain of her newly inflicted wound. Was the stake covered in some kind of poison? Maybe it hadn't shown any effects when it nicked her throat because not enough of it was in her system, but now that the stake was imbedded deep in her side, a high concentration was in her blood stream.

"I am going to kill you, but I want to tell you this. I had a vision. It seems in the future you will bring good to this land and my family."

"As if I'd do that." She scoffed, but then erupted into a coughing fit, drawing up blood. "I thought you said you were going to kill me."

"I carry out what I say, but I'm going to sacrifice my own life to help my people." Why in the future would she ever help him and his men who hunted her down every day of the year?

He dived into his pocket, producing a vial of green liquid. He took a swig, swallowing half of the solution. "This is a little concoction I made." He explained, wiping his mouth on his sleeve. "Only this little vial exists. I was hoping to make more, but under the circumstances…" He trailed off as he slumped to the floor, choking. His eyes were wild when he looked up at her, crawling over and forced the remainder of the liquid down her throat. It tasted like acid. "We will both die tonight, but you will wake up, human."

"You're going to make me _vermin_?" Sakura spluttered. "When I wake up I will hunt you and your family down and _wipe you out_!"

"But you won't remember anything that happened in this life. Goodbye Sakura Haruno." With the last of his strength he plunged the stake into her racing heart. He slumped to the floor as his own heart slowed and eventually stopped. _A life for a life._ Sakura's world instantly went black, a single tear rolled down her cheek. The last thing she heard was the calming trickle of the stream a few feet from where she laid. Then that eventually faded and all she felt was nothingness.

Sakura Haruno died.

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**First chapter is up! I changed a few things, but nothing major. I'm going to try and update once a week, and I've wrote a few chapters in advance as it's exam time, so I won't have chance to write until end of June D:**

**I went to see Star Trek – Into Darkness with my friend today and OMG it was amazing!**

**Please review! :)**


	2. Chapter Two

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto but the plot is rightfully mine.**

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_~Chapter Two~_

_2013_

Sakura was perfectly happy with her life. She had a loving parent and two best friends who were always there for her through thick and thin. However, she'd always felt like there was an empty hole in her heart, something that she could never put her finger on. Part of it was because she had never known a mother's love. Her own, Kaori Haruno, had passed away giving birth to her. The doctor's never understood why; they blamed it on heart failure. She had been fit and healthy, planning her future with her husband and their unborn child. She was a complete mystery to the professionals.

Sakura was not only named after a Cherry Blossom tree, but also after her great great great great auntie, who had died from an illness when she was a teenager. Despite her asking repeatedly when she was younger if she could see a photo of the girl she was named after, she was never given one. She later found out it was because her father didn't have any.

She was a student at Konoha High School in her senior year. She thought the school was okay, but some aspects could be improved. For instance, the principal spent a small fortune on remodelling the café, yet they desperately needed a new science lab. There was a leak in the gas pipes, so whenever they used the Bunsen Burners the smell gave the whole class a headache. Also there were a few broken and wobbly stools that they had to sit on, and one of the windows was permanently fused slightly open.

"Hey Sakura, are you coming tonight?" Ino asked in the middle of psychology class. She was one of her best friends. Being the head cheerleader with long, glossy blonde hair always arranged in a pony tail with her bangs falling to one side and soft blue eyes, she was the most popular girl in the school.

"I wouldn't miss it for the world." Sakura smiled, thinking of their future trip to the cinema.

"Great, I can't wait!" Tenten said. Her brunette hair was always in two buns perched on her head, and she was a genius in karate and sports. She had been playing on the girl's soccer team since their freshman year.

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Sakura's father, Ichirou Haruno, pulled his black Ford Fiesta up to the front of the cinema. She could see Ino and Tenten waiting just inside the entrance so she said goodbye to her dad, checked to see whether she had enough money, and walked towards her two best friends.

They bought their tickets and sat down to watch the film. Quick to tear up, Ino started crying towards the end of the film when the big fight scene commenced. Tenten and Sakura couldn't take their eyes off the screen, popping popcorn into their mouths.

After the film, they decided to go to a fast food restaurant for tea which was just two minute's walk through the car park. If they hadn't been talking animatedly about the movie they would have noticed the woman heading towards them. As they past her, Tenten bumped into the woman's shoulder by accident.

"I'm so sorry! I didn't see you." She apologised. The woman didn't seem to notice her though, she was staring at Sakura. She looked down at herself. Her clothes were fine and didn't have bird poop on them, and her black tights and red dress were all in place, so what was the woman staring at? Sakura wondered if she had something on her face, or if her shoulder length pink hair looked like a bird was nesting in it.

"It's okay child." The woman addressed Tenten. She was really pretty, about early twenties. Sakura was jealous of her looks: long blonde hair tied up in two pigtails and penetrating brown eyes. Her skin was deathly pale but seemingly poreless. But those _breasts._ Sakura would be damned if those were natural. The woman walked away without a second glance, much to Sakura's relief. She narrowed her eyes at the woman's retreating back. _Child?_ She thought. _Who's a child?_ All three of them were eighteen, all classed as adults.

They arrived at the fast food restaurant and ordered three burgers and fries. Sakura grabbed the window seat so she could look out at the seemingly endless sky. She loved to make shapes out of the white puffy clouds.

"Would you rather be rich or famous?" Tenten randomly asked, taking a bite out of her burger.

"Famous. I'd love to have my face in glossy magazines and have everyone know my name. I could be a movie star and walk the red carpet!" Ino said.

"That's not always a good thing." Sakura countered. "I'd much rather be rich. That way you won't have paparazzi stalking you."

"I agree with Sakura on this one." Tenten said.

"But if you were famous you could get any guy you wanted." Ino insisted. "I'm fed up of being single!" Sakura and Tenten looked at each other and burst out laughing. All she thought about was boys, as she admitted to herself many times. Sakura was surprised she hadn't got a boyfriend, although she had a few in the past. Her last one, Sai, turned out to be gay. It took weeks of sleepovers, soppy chick-flicks and dozens of boxes of chocolate before Ino started to forget about him.

"Typical Ino." Tenten managed to get out between fits of laughter. After eating, the three of them went to the shops and peered through windows, admiring the creative displays. It was a big tease, looking at things that you want but have no money buy.

"How are you getting home, Sakura?" Ino asked as her mum pulled up in the mall's car park in a blue Honda Civic.

"I'm catching a bus. Dad's busy at work." Sakura replied. Her father was a high school teacher, but thankfully he worked in a different school Sakura and her friends attended, in the next town over. Most of the time he was busy marking test papers or lesson planning.

"I could give you a lift if you want. Tenten invited herself." Ino said as the brunette climbed into the back of the Civic. Tenten made a peace sign with her hand and stuck her tongue out, hearing Ino's comment. It was getting dark and the offer was very tempting, but Ino and Tenten lived on the other side of town to Sakura, and she didn't want to be a burden on Ino's mother.

"I'll be fine. You go home and enjoy some hot chocolate." She declined. The cocoa drink was Ino's weak spot; she drank gallons of the stuff.

"Call me when you get home." She said, enveloping Sakura in a hug and climbed into the car. Sakura caught a bus, and it took her ten minutes to walk from the bus stop to her house. It had gotten really dark, and she started to regret not accepting Ino's offer. She quickened her pace as she walked down a road, the streetlamps illuminating the pavement.

Someone grabbed her from behind. She hadn't heard their footsteps and it took her by surprise. She tried to scream but her throat wasn't cooperating. She attempted to turn around but her attacker had her in an iron grip, almost crushing her wrists. He or she dragged her into an alleyway in between two bungalows where there were no lights. She kicked out blindly behind her and hit something – most likely a leg – but the person didn't even grunt in pain.

"Shit girl, stay still!" A man's voice cursed. Sakura writhed around even more, adrenaline throbbing through her veins. A blow to the head knocked her out cold.

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Sakura's head pounded as she awoke. She opened her eyes but was blinded by a bright light which forced her to shut them again. At first she thought she was at home and had fallen asleep on one of the chairs. When she tried to rub her eyes she realised her hands were restrained – _she_ was restrained – on a cold, hard chair.

She made a second attempt at opening her eyes, but this time she was expecting the brightness. She was in a big room with no windows or furniture. It reminded her of something, but she couldn't put her groggy mind to it. There were a group of six people in front of her and three more surrounding the chair she was sat on, who were clad in swords and armour: guards. Sakura wondered what they were there for.

What had she gotten herself into? Had they mistaken her for someone else? Her father was going to be furious when she got home for being late. She had no idea how long she'd been knocked out for.

"You've finally decided to wake up." A man said. Wearing long blood red robes and a crown on his head, it was obvious he was of high importance. Sakura decided to keep quiet. "I'd never thought I would see you again after my father killed you."

Sakura was confused. She was perfectly alive. She could hear her heart pounding in her ears. The sound seemed to fill the whole room.

"Sakura Haruno, don't you remember me?" He smirked while she stared at him blankly. She'd never seen the man before in her life, so how did he know her name? She was in serious trouble.

"Sir, I recall your father saying that she wouldn't be able to remember anything unless we change her." Another man said who had long white hair. His right sleeve wasn't occupied by an arm and Sakura wondered how he lost it. She tugged on the chains binding her wrists but it was no use, although she was slightly amused when the guards stiffened at the movement.

"I remember now. It was a long time ago, when I was just a boy. A ten year old child who had to witness his own father's death!"

"I'm sorry to hear that." Sakura murmured sincerely. She didn't think anyone would hear her comment but the crowned man lunged towards her. She would have fallen off the chair if she wasn't chained to it. He was so fast, inhumanly so.

A couple of people restrained him. "You're sorry to hear that, are you? You're the one who killed him!"

"I haven't killed anyone." Sakura's eyes widened. He was so close that she could see her own reflection in the man's onyx eyes. His nostrils flared.

"Calm down, Sir. Do you want me to summon your family?" A woman asked, thinking the Ruler's wife and two sons would help calm him. She had blonde hair and familiar hazel eyes. It was the woman who Tenten had bumped into after the cinema earlier on that evening.

"No, I don't want them subjected to this monster." The Ruler spat out, rising to his full height to tower over Sakura.

_Excuse me?_

She was taken aback, shocked at his words. She was a model student, achieving high grades and always handing in her homework on time. She had never broken the law or spoken back to her father. She was _not_ a monster. This man didn't even know her! A thought came to mind, that the room reminded her of a basement; or more specifically, a torture room with her sat in the centre of the room. She swallowed, noting that she was the one chained to the chair.

"Guards, take her to the cells. There's no point in watching over her, I can sense she's human." The Ruler ordered. He wrapped his robe around himself and stormed out of the room back to his bedroom where his mate was waiting. One of the guards unsheathed his sword and raised it in to the air. Sakura turned her head away and clenched her eyes shut; convinced they were going to cut one of her arms off. There was a breeze on her right cheek as the guard brought down the sword. She was no longer bound to the chair as her chains snapped in half. Another guard roughly pulled her to her feet and pushed her towards the only door in the room.

She was shoved down a dark, damp corridor and thrown into a cell so hard that she fell on her hands and knees, her skin scraping against the rough ground. The noise of metal against metal went straight through her as the guards closed the door, shutting her out from the outside world. She wondered how long they were going to keep her there. Ino would be waiting for her call and was probably ringing her mobile right now. She dug it out of her pocket but the BlackBerry had no signal. She must have been deep underground.

There was a mattress on the floor with a thin sheet covering it. No pillow. She was going to have a kink in her neck when she woke up. She laid down on it, taking in her surroundings. There was nothing else in the small space – not even a window – bar a flickering light bulb dangling from the ceiling supplying the prison with a dim glow. In the dark, dank place she had a chance to collect her thoughts. She had no idea why she was there, except for the fact that she was being accused of a murder that she was positive she didn't commit. The woman that Tenten had bumped into was in on it, and probably ordered the men to capture her. That's what the funny look was about in the car park. She guessed the man with the crown was some kind of king or ruler, but ruler of what she didn't know.

* * *

"Keep moving, girl!"

Sasuke awoke to the muffled voices from the floor below. If it wasn't for his super senses he wouldn't have heard them, and he would still be asleep. Instantly in a bad mood from being woken up, he rolled over and checked his IPhone on his bedside table. The light from the screen shined brightly in the pitch black room, hurting Sasuke's eyes. The phone display told him it was half past two in the morning. He knew his father was partial to late nights, but this was ridiculous.

He had heard of the rumours flying around the palace about a girl being captured and sent to the basement to be interrogated and locked in the cells overnight. It wasn't everyday that Fugaku used the underground rooms. But the rumour had gotten out of control, people suggesting that it was _Sakura Haruno_ that had been caught. Sasuke had scoffed when he had heard the gossip, choosing to ignore it. Haruno had been dealt with years ago by his own grandfather. People just couldn't come back from the dead. It was scientifically impossible, even for the supernatural.

Of course, he had heard all about Haruno from history lessons with Kakashi, his personal tutor. Being who she was, he was glad he wasn't alive when she had been around. Somehow he thought that his life would have been different with the ruthless vampire running loose.

From the direction of the voices, they were heading towards the cells. They were locking _someone_ up, and Sasuke became a little curious. His father had told him to stay in his room for the night, and under no circumstances must he leave, but when had Sasuke ever followed orders? He got out of bed, pulled on some jeans and an old t-shirt, and went to investigate.

* * *

"Psst!" Sakura was startled awake by a hiss in the shadows. She shot up into a sitting position, groaning from the pain in her stiff back. Her eyes adjusted to being open so that she could focus in the dim light. She stared into the darkness beyond her prison bars.

"Sakura, don't make any noise and follow me." The soft voice sounded again. It was female and was coming from the corridor. Just as Sakura wondered how the hell she was going to get out and follow her, the metal bars opened with a deafening creak which made her cringe. "Quick, someone would have heard that." The voice said.

Someone grabbed her hand and they ran down the pitch black corridors and up countless steps. Sakura wondered how the mysterious girl could navigate her way around. Soon enough they stopped in a doorway leading into a brightly lit room, and Sakura caught her breath. It looked like an entrance hall with a tiled floor and an impossibly high ceiling. A grand staircase loomed over by the far wall leading to the floor above. Pictures hung on the wall and quite a few weapons, mainly swords, throwing stars and wooden stakes. The place was the exact image of what Sakura imagined a palace to look like from story books that Ichirou used to read to her when she was younger.

"You wait here; I'm going to check if outside is clear." The girl whispered. She looked to be the same age as Sakura. She had long black hair and blunt bangs covering her forehead. Her eyes were such an unusual colour, almost white, but they were honest and trustworthy. The girl ran off towards the open double doors, releasing Sakura's hand.

There was no one in the entrance hall and curiosity got the better of Sakura. Instead of staying put she ventured inside, steering towards a display that caught her eye. In a cabinet there was one piece of metal resting on the shelf. She couldn't take her eyes off the well looked after katana. It looked sharp and could probably inflict a lot of damage. Something was engraved on the hilt. Sakura leaned in a bit closer…

"You shouldn't be here." The deep voice made Sakura jump. She whipped around and came face to face with the most gorgeous boy she had ever seen. His face was controlled, giving nothing away. His onyx eyes stared back at her. His messy black hair looked like he had just woken up, which he had. Sakura stared, having no idea what to say. He was the enemy, and he had caught her trying to escape.

"Who are you?" Sakura blurted out; feeling like an idiot after the question left her lips. She should have stayed where the girl had told her to stay.

"I live here." He said, not answering the question Sakura had asked. His eyes travelled up and down her body, and she suddenly felt self conscious under his gaze. "How did you get out of the cells?"

"Through the door, along a lot of corridors and stairs." She answered. His eyes narrowed and it took all of her willpower not to look away. She needed to stand her ground, and she needed to buy some time before she got a signal from the girl to escape. How she was going to escape with this boy here she had no idea. "Where am I? And why has this sword got my name on the hilt?"

The boy didn't reply for a while, glancing down at the katana. "I think you should leave."

Sakura stared at him, dumbfounded. He was one of _them_, wasn't he? Why was he letting her go? Or did he mean 'leave' as in back to the cell?

"I'm not going back in that stink hole." Sakura said, straightening her back and tensing her muscles. The girl from before was hiding behind the boundary wall in the gardens outside. She was waving a tiny hand at her, signalling that the coast was clear. If the guy turned around now, she'd be busted. "You're right, I think I should _go_." She edged towards the open doors.

"If you know what's good for you, you won't come back. Don't get captured again."

"That wasn't my fault! You people are crazy." She said, annoyed. The boy smirked, and Sakura tried her hardest not to blush. He looked so sexy when he smirked, not that he wasn't when he didn't have the expression plastered over his handsome face. She was so close to the door, to freedom, and the wind blew her pink locks around her face.

"Tell your friend to hurry before someone realises you're gone." He disappeared through the door she had entered the hall through. Sakura stared after him, wondering how on earth he knew about her rescuer. She couldn't believe he was just letting them escape. She ran to the wall and climbed over it, not looking back once.

"Close call! You really shouldn't have moved from where I left you." The dark haired girl whispered. Sakura mumbled a sorry. "If you follow this path you should find yourself on the road that leads back into town. You should be able to find your way back home from there." And then she too disappeared. It was cold, looked like it was going to rain, and she had to walk all the way home. Now she had to explain to her father where she'd been for most of the night. She quickly texted him, telling him she was on her way home, and started on her journey.

* * *

Sasuke was surprised to find a girl admiring one of the displays in the entrance hall. He was heading to the cells to see who the new addition was when he did a double take, noticing the shock of pink hair. _Pink hair._ One person came to mind when he saw her, but it couldn't be.

"You shouldn't be here." He said, approaching her from behind. Her scent told him that she was human, and because of that she wouldn't have heard his silent footsteps walking towards her, the shift in the air as he advanced. Her whole body tensed as she spun around, and he came face to face with a girl out of time.

Her face was familiar, with her large forehead, small nose and round face. He had seen her features in a photograph that had been printed in black and white. He had no idea her eyes were an apple green, he always assumed they were a light blue for some unknown reason. However, everyone knew her hair had been pink, who could forget a colour like that on someone's head? The girl in front of him had short straight hair, falling down to her shoulders. The girl in the photograph had long wavy hair which had reached her mid-back, Sasuke recalled, bringing the picture to the forefront of his mind. Then again, they didn't have straighteners in the nineteenth century.

He remembered the caption below the photograph, printed in block capitals.

_SAKURA HARUNO, THE MOST FEARED VAMPIRE IN HISTORY, WAS FINALLY KILLED BY KAITO UCHIHA IN 1894._

The girl in the photograph was standing right in front of him, but being an Uchiha he remained stoic, not giving away any emotions. She was obviously escaping, and he let her go. His father would freak out when he found out she'd left, but how could a mere human, who was blatantly ignorant of who she was, threaten the supernatural world?

Sasuke would soon find out.

* * *

**Thank you for reading! I decided to put some of Sasuke's POV in this chapter, which I enjoyed writing. **

**Please review! :)**


	3. Chapter Three

**Disclaimer: I do NOT own Naruto, if I did I wouldn't be writing this fanfic!  
**

* * *

_~Chapter Three~_

"Sasuke, I want you to keep an eye on her." Fugaku said over dinner Sunday night. "I don't want her making trouble, and if Orochimaru finds out she's alive…" He trailed off, thinking of the disastrous consequences if that monster got his hands on the girl. The head of the Uchiha family took a sip out of his mug, which contained a dark red liquid. He screwed his nose up at the taste – he much preferred the fresh stuff. "I've enrolled you and a couple of your friends in at Konoha High School, and you start tomorrow."

The youngest Uchiha frowned as he chewed his toast, not liking the idea of going to high school. Kakashi was a perfectly good teacher, both in academics and the supernatural.

"You could have given me more notice." Sasuke sighed.

"This is important, sweetie." His mother Mikoto said, stroking the top of his head while she placed the gravy boat on the table. "It won't be for long. Just until all the commotion dies down." Everyone in the palace had been talking non stop about the Haruno rumours all weekend. Fugaku made them all keep it within the grounds, it would be terrible if the news spread, and if the information got into the wrong hands…

"If you notice anything out of place or suspicious, you are to tell me or Itachi straight away so we can investigate." Fugaku ordered. When Sasuke had finished his meal, he went to stand up from his chair and walk to his room. However, Mikoto got her hands on him before he left the dining room, putting her hands on either side of his head. She peered into his dark, obsidian eyes.

"Sasuke, please go hunting tonight. You need to take better care of your needs; you are going to be around humans tomorrow." Mikoto fussed. Sasuke side stepped away from his mother's grasp, annoyed. "In fact, you can both go." She said, referring to both Sasuke and his older brother, Itachi. The older sibling was four years Sasuke's senior, and had been in the SBI –Supernatural Being Investigations – for just under two years. It was their job to investigate any rumours about their cover being blown to humans, to eliminate the individuals responsible and track down any humans that know of the supernatural world and remove their memories.

"Whatever." Sasuke replied. He was hoping to have an early night, but it looked like that wasn't going to happen.

* * *

Sakura managed to think up a reasonable excuse that her dad seemed to believe. For all he knew, Ino had fallen over and hurt her ankle, so they had to call a taxi to take her to A&E. They waited at the hospital for hours. Now all she had to do was inform Ino of her sprained ankle.

She didn't tell anyone what really happened. She wasn't sure if it happened herself. The man could have stolen her purse, knocked her out and ran off, her imagination most likely came up with the rest. She checked her bag to find her purse safely there. Another explanation, maybe?

The weekend went by in a blur: homework, studying, walking her border collie Hina, and revising some more. Tenten was at a soccer match against Suna High, which they won by the skin of their teeth, and Ino had gone camping with her family.

"Hey Sakura, I bet you can't guess what we did on the camping trip." Ino said when they met up at the school gates on Monday morning. The blonde had already explained the story to Tenten, who was busy sending a text. "Nothing. Absolutely nothing! I lost one of my shoes in some mud and had to walk around the dark woods with one shoe, tripping up every ten seconds over tree roots. I swear they were out to get me."

"Woah." Tenten swooned, her eyes following a car that had just driven past where they were stood and into the school's student car park. Her pupils had dilated, longing after the black Audi R8 which roared into a parking space. The vehicle looked out of place, surrounded by the students Corsas and KAs. The silver BMW SUV which was following behind pulled into the space next to the Audi. A boy climbed out of the black car, slinging a bag over his shoulder. Two people got out of the SUV: two guys, one with spiky blonde hair and the other had brunette hair which was in a pony tail.

"Who are _they_?" Tenten asked as Ino's eyes widened. She was staring at the Audi owner as he shut the driver's door and walked over to the other two people. Ino hoped he was single, crossing her fingers. He was just her type, and had a wild look about him. Sakura's heart stopped when her eyes clapped on the boy. It was _him_. The guy from the palace. She realised that everything that happened last night hadn't been made up. The proof was standing on the other side of the car park.

Ino gripped Sakura's arm. "He's so frigging hot! He must be really rich with a car like that." Sakura quickly turned away in hopes that he wouldn't recognise her. "I've _got_ to talk to him." Ino rushed over to the three new students, dragging Tenten and Sakura along. As they walked up, the blonde started laughing at something _he_ had said. The brunette guy saw them walking up to them, and frowned.

"Hi, my name is Ino Yamanaka. This is Tenten Buki and Sakura Haruno." She introduced. The onyx eyed boy looked over them in turn, and Ino squirmed when his gaze fell on her. His eyes lingered on Sakura longer than the rest, and she was sure he definitely recognised her. Sakura wondered why he was there the week after she was kidnapped by his household.

"I'm Naruto Uzumaki, and this is Shikamaru Nara." The blonde said, gesturing to the brunette haired guy, whose hair looked like the top of a pineapple, Sakura decided. "And Sasuke Uchiha." He elbowed _him_. Sakura and Sasuke were staring at each other, neither of them refusing to look away first.

"Nice to meet you, but lessons are about to start. Reception is in the big round building straight ahead. See you." Tenten said, becoming bored, although she was downhearted to rip her eyes away from the Audi. "Let's go." She whispered to Ino, and this time it was Tenten dragging Ino away by the elbow. The king must know by now that Sakura had escaped. Had he sent this guy to kidnap her again? Were the other two his comrades to help him in the act?

"Earth to Forehead! I'm going to offer them a seat with us at lunch before anyone else grabs them, is that okay?" Ino asked on the way to their lessons.

"As long as they don't sit next to me." Sakura replied, not wanting anything to do with people involved in last weeks events. Ino gave her a funny look which she ignored.

* * *

At lunch they sat at their usual table in the back corner. Ino was the first to spot the three newbies and waved them over. Sakura conveniently took a text book out of her bag and started 'studying', making it look as though she was too busy to talk.

"What's up?" Naruto asked. He brought a chair over and squeezed in between Tenten and Sakura. She shuffled her book away from the boy to give him more space. Ino gave her a look and kicked her under the table.

"How are you settling in?" Ino asked as Shikamaru and Sasuke sat down. Sakura was relieved the latter didn't sit next to her, but sat next to Ino instead. She looked as if she was on Cloud Nine.

"It's a bit like my old school really. The teachers are a lot nicer here though. I'm glad I transferred. Are you going to eat that?" Naruto said. No one answered him so Sakura looked up, noticing the blonde was talking to her. She looked at her plate and decided that she had lost her appetite as soon as they had sat down.

"No." She said, passing him the two slices of pizza.

"Where did you transfer from?" Tenten inquired, joining the conversation.

"Leaf Academy." Naruto answered around a mouthful of pepperoni pizza, saying KHS's rival school in sports.

"What about you, Shikamaru?" Ino asked, fluttering her eyelashes. All three of the new students were very good looking. Sakura rolled her eyes at Ino's flirtatious nature.

"Same." He said. He was slouched in his chair, his arms folded over his chest with a bored expression on his face.

"Why did you transfer?" Ino said.

"Didn't really have a choice." Sakura had a feeling that Shikamaru didn't want to be there.

Naruto waved a water bottle at him. "Don't listen to him, he's always grumpy. Right, Sasuke?" He laughed.

"Right, and too lazy to do be bothered about anything." Sasuke said. Shikamaru may be lazy, but his posture suggested to Sakura that he had immense power in his limbs. She could imagine him leaping from his chair at the first sight of danger, getting involved in the fight. He may be lazy, but he could be dangerous when he wanted to be.

She risked a glance at Sasuke out of curiosity and found him staring at her. She quickly looked away, annoyed that he was keeping an eye on her. She sent him a telepathic message: _If you had to keep an eye on me, why did you let me go? Is that why you're here?_

"True." Naruto said, biting another massive mouthful out of the pizza. "You can throw a mean punch though, can't you Shika?" He elbowed the brunette.

"Don't call me that." Shikamaru said, stealing Naruto's water bottle and taking a massive swig out of it.

"Hey!" Naruto complained, snatching it back. "Buy your own."

"You should buy your own pizza."

"Sakura-chan gave it to me." Sakura couldn't stop herself from smiling at the two of them bickering. Sasuke was still staring at her, and it was making her uneasy. Anyone would think she was going to jump up from her chair, stand on the table and announce what had happened at the palace. _Hey guys, listen up! I got kidnapped and thrown into a cell in this guy's house! Or should I say palace?_ Not likely. She didn't want anybody to know what happened any more than he did. Not that she could read his mind or anything.

The rest of the day was a blur. After lunch Ino questioned Sakura about her spontaneous study session. 'No one revises at lunch, it's, like, against the unwritten rules. Well, unless you're a nerd, which you kind of are. Sorry. But not even you revise at lunch, it's just sad. You should have spoken to them! They seem really nice, and really good looking!' She just hadn't been in the mood to talk to someone who was involved in her kidnapping. Not that Ino would believe her if she told her.

When Sakura walked through her front door, her border collie, Hina, bounded up to her. She fed her, ate her own dinner with her father and then went upstairs to bed.

It turned out that Sasuke was in her English class. It looked like the three newbies were eating with them every lunch thanks to Ino's invitation. Sakura had nothing against the other two, it was just _him_. Ino was infatuated with him and it seemed like the rest of the female population of KHS were aswel. He'd only been there one day and Kaya and her friends had introduced themselves to him at the end of lunch and boldly asked him whether he had a girlfriend. However, he ignored all of their questions.

Sakura hadn't really spoken to him yet, mainly because Ino was trying to get his attention all the time. But what would she say to him? _Have you come to kidnap me again? Are you waiting for your chance to get me alone?_

_Who are you?_

* * *

The next day Sakura found out that Sasuke and Shikamaru were all in AP classes. They were geniuses! She didn't know how Shikamaru would keep up though, he seemed so laid back; the 'I'll do it last minute' kind of guy.

In English she sat down in her usual seat in the back corner and started getting her books out. She took as much time as she could, trying to look busy so that when Sasuke walked in she had an excuse not to give him eye contact. That way he would hopefully not sit next to her in the spare seat. She hoped he was good at reading body language.

"Is this seat taken?" Sakura's hopes were dashed as he obviously didn't, or was ignoring the obvious signs. Yes, it is definitely taken, Sakura thought. Her bag was going to occupy the seat when he wasn't looking. His eyes were boring into hers, those deep onyx eyes. She swore she could see her own reflection in them.

"No."

"Hn." He sat down in her bag's spot and laid his hand out across the desk in front of him, fiddling with a pen. Sakura noticed it was really pale. Did this guy ever go out in the sun? However, colour aside, it was a very nice hand, and arm for that matter. A hard, muscular arm and a hand which looked like it could punch someone into next week, or be very gentle. She shook her head very slightly. What was she thinking?

"Just make notes and ask Haruno if you don't understand anything." Asuma-sensei said as he passed out their homework from last week that he had marked. She had gotten 98%! Take that descriptive writing.

As the teacher walked away she swore she heard him say, 'stupid, starting in the middle of the year. He'll never catch up.' Sakura looked over at Sasuke out of the corner of her eye for his reaction, and his eyes narrowed slightly in an 'I'll show you' expression. He then looked at her out of the corner of his eye, looking at her looking at him out of the corner of her eye. She quickly glanced away.

"Were you named Sakura after your hair colour?" He asked. He had a nice, deep voice. She wanted him to keep talking, not that she'd let him know that.

"No." Silence. "You're named after a famous ninja, aren't you? Sarotobi Sasuke or whatever. Ninja's are supposed to follow orders."

"Some ninja's are hard to be tamed." He said, his leg brushed against hers very slightly by accident as he shifted in his seat. She prayed that she hadn't gone bright red, and she shifted her hair so that it was like a veil between them, hiding her face. She cursed herself for blushing so easily. No matter how much she was wary of him, she couldn't deny that he was so _hot_.

"Obviously, when you can't follow orders to keep someone locked up." Sakura said.

"Exactly. You owe me."

"I do not." She looked up, alarmed. "Have you forgotten that _I_ was the one who was kidnapped? I didn't ask you to let me go. I would have been able to find a way to escape on my own."

"You still owe me." He smirked. She wanted to wipe that sexy smirk off his handsome face. She stared him down, as he did her. She would have liked to have said that she won, but seeing as she was losing her mind staring into those dark eyes, she looked away. The smirk became bigger.

They wrote down notes for half an hour in silence. She refused to talk to him if she didn't have to. She did not owe him, she kept telling herself, but deep down she knew that she did. He could have easily made her return to the cells and wait for the king to decide what to do with her.

"What's on the reading list?" He asked.

"I don't know, you tell me."

"Pride and Prejudice? Wuthering Heights? Romeo and Juliet? They seem to be popular with other schools."

"No, more like Frankenstein and Dracula. Our school likes the monsters." she joked. The books that he listed were obviously on the reading list. What school didn't assign at least one of them?

Sasuke winced, looking back down at his notes. He didn't say another word.

"I'm sorry for being a jerk to you. I've just been in a bad mood these past few days. You know, with the kidnapping?" A sheepish look crossed his face when she mentioned the k-word. "You were right, we're reading Pride and Prejudice at the minute, and we've just finished Romeo and Juliet."

"I just live at the place where you were taken. Innocent bystander, really." He said. Bystander? Maybe. Innocent? For some reason Sakura had a niggling feeling in her gut telling her that he wasn't as innocent as he made out to be.

"Who have I supposedly killed? Because I have you know I have a squeaky clean record, and clean hands." She whispered, not wanting anyone to over hear.

"Just forget whatever you heard. You don't need to worry about it."

"I've been accused of murder. I do need to worry about it."

He stayed silent for a few minutes. Then he said, "Have you always lived here?" Sakura was taken aback by the sudden change in subject.

"Born and bred. What school did you move from?" She decided to carry on the conversation. He wasn't that bad once you got him talking. There were only five minutes left of the lesson, and then she could get rid of him.

"I didn't. This is my first time. I was home schooled. My father wasn't keen on the idea of letting me attend school." Sakura wondered if he had an overprotective father, but Sasuke's eyes said something different. Her dad always said look into someone's eyes as words can lie, but the eyes can't. They are the windows to the soul after all. His eyes told her there was something he wasn't telling her, something he was determined to keep a secret.

"Why have you suddenly decided to come to KHS then? Why are you here?" The question that had been nagging her for a couple of days was out. At first she'd presumed he'd come from Leaf as he seemed good friends with Naruto and Shikamaru, but it looked like she was wrong.

"It's none of your business." He replied. Way to kill a conversation.

* * *

**I hope you enjoyed reading!**

**To clear up a few things, here is Sakura's timeline:**

**1720 - Sakura was born**

**1738 - Sakura was made a vampire**

**1894 - Sakura dies**

**1995 - Sakura born again**

**2013 - Story set**

**Please review, I really appreciate it :)**


	4. Chapter Four

**Disclaimer: Naruto and its characters are not mine, they belong to Masashi Kishimoto!**

* * *

_~Chapter Four~_

"Guess who's in my maths class?" Ino said under her breath the next day, on their way to chemistry class.

"Taylor Lautner. Why are you whispering?" Sakura enquired.

"Ten times better than Taylor Lautner: Sasuke Uchiha! I managed to get a seat behind him! He is amazing at numbers, really smart. He's better than me."

"No one is better than you in math; you're top of the class." An AP class at that. Sakura wished she had her mathematical skills. Ino may be blonde, but she's a genius with numbers. Sakura couldn't even do long division without getting confused. Her best subjects were biology and chemistry, which was a good thing as she wanted to be a Doctor.

"I may have competition. Every girl in the class couldn't take their eyes off him." She clenched her jaw, "Next lesson I'm going to pretend not to get a problem and ask him to tutor me."

"Don't dumb yourself down for a boy, Ino." Sakura advised her. It annoyed her when girls did that. If a guy really liked someone, they wouldn't care if they were dumb or smart.

"I found out loads about him though before the teacher came in. His dad is a control freak, he's got an older brother and him, Naruto and Shikamaru have been friends since they were little kids!"

"Hey Sakura-chan, looks like I'm in your chemistry!" Naruto said as he walked beside the two girls. Ino immediately stiffened, scared that he had overheard the conversation. "Any cool experiments I've missed out on?"

_How come Ino can find loads about him and all he told me was he'd never been to school before? _

"Cool? No. Extremely complicated with the occasional student burning their eyebrows off? You've missed a few of them." Ino said. Sakura smiled at the memory of Kiba Inuzuka, who she must say wasn't very good at practicals. He always managed to mess his experiments up, either setting fire to something or spilling the chemicals all over the floor. This particular experiment he was peering through the top of a conical flask a little too close and missed the instruction that said to put a cork in it. He got a face full of smoke and scorched eyebrows.

"Oh, I thought it was just me who did that!" Naruto joked. Well, Sakura _thought_ he was joking. She hoped. "I hate theory." They walked into the room and the teacher, Kurenai-sensei, started handing out sheets with instructions on.

"It's your lucky day, Naruto." Sakura said, "Observing the colour changes of the transition metals, fascinating." Sarcasm was evident in her tone.

Kurenai-sensei noticed Naruto. "You must be one of the new students, Naruto Uzumaki? You can be lab partners with Sakura." That meant Ino would be working with Kiba.

"Unlucky, Pig." Sakura stuck her tongue out at her just has Kiba walked up to them. She smiled at him to show she was joking. Thankfully he grinned back.

"I'll try not to set fire to your hair." Kiba said sheepishly.

"You better not. Otherwise it's not just your eyebrows that are going to be singed off." Ino warned.

"So, what's first partner?" Naruto asked Sakura when the other two started to set up their equipment next to them. She looked at the instructions.

"Test tube rack, six test tubes and six pipettes. I'll get the rack and tubes, you can get the pipettes. Go hunt." I told him.

"Hunting's my favourite hobby." He flew off towards the supply cupboard with Sakura following behind him. They set up next to Ino and Kiba, who had already started to pipette one of the metal ions into the test tube.

"Ten centimetres cubed of Cobalt two plus, with the same amount of Hydroxide ions." Sakura instructed, "I'll do the same with the Copper two plus." They watched as the Cobalt changed colour from a pink solution to a blue precipitate.

She would never admit this out loud, but whilst they were both concentrating on getting the right amounts into the test tubes her mind started to wander to Sasuke. Why wouldn't he tell her why he was there? It was a simple question, unless he really was there to spy on her. She wanted to know more about him: why he let her go; his birthday; his favourite colour; his shoe size. The list went on.

"So…" Sakura started, not knowing how to start up a conversation with Naruto about Sasuke without him getting suspicious. He looked up at her whilst adding Chromium ions into a test tube. Due to his attention being diverted, he made a puddle of the solution on the table instead of in the glass tube.

"Watch it, Naruto!" Sakura exclaimed, wiping up the mess with a paper towel. "How long have you known Shikamaru and Sasuke?" Sakura inquired. Ino had stopped measuring chemicals to listen. She would stop breathing if Sasuke asked her to.

"Since we were seven. They were even more annoying back then than what they are now."

"Sasuke's really good looking, isn't he?" Ino joined in, her elbows resting on the table and her head in her hands. Kiba seemed annoyed that his partner had left him.

"If you like that kind of thing." Naruto shrugged.

"What's not to like?"

"I'll just tell you that when you get to know him, like _really_ get to know him, you may have wished you'd have backed off." Was it Sakura's imagination, or did Naruto sound like he was warning them? Telling them to back off and leave the Uchiha alone. He had a serious look on his face, which was a first.

"What's he got to hide?" Ino questioned.

"You really don't want to know."

"But I really do." A mysterious guy with a secret; Ino loved it. _Drop it_, Sakura mentally pleaded with her.

"If I told you, I'd have to kill you." Sakura would have laughed along with Ino, but the look on Naruto's face suggested that he wasn't completely joking.

* * *

"I really want to have a movie night." Ino said in the middle of the next chemistry lesson the following day. Sakura was attempting to explain why transition metals have different colours to Naruto, who she had come to the conclusion wasn't very good at the subject. Kurenai-sensei had gone out of the room so they had a chance to talk.

"That would be fun." Sakura said. "Who are you inviting?" Normally it was just her, Ino and Tenten, but she had a strong feeling the blonde wanted to invite a few more people, and she could guess who they were.

"Well, apart from you and Tenten, I'd really like it if Sasuke, Shikamaru and Naruto would come." She said, "And Neji can come if he wants." Neji was Tenten's long term boyfriend.

"Shikamaru?" Sakura whispered, wondering why her best friend would want to invite him. As far as she knew they'd hardly exchanged words.

"Yeah, he's kind of cool. You should get to know him." She could tell Shikamaru was a nice person, if a little lazy. He had looks too, but it was still unexpected that Ino wanted him to go round to hers for a movie night.

"That will be awesome!" Naruto exclaimed. "What movie are we watching?"

"Whatever. I could kick my parents out tomorrow night, and I'm sure I could get my brother to buy us some drinks." Her brother had just hit twenty one. Kurenai-sensei came back into the room carrying a load of chemicals for her next class. She placed them carefully onto her desk and looked at the clock on the wall, seeing that it was nearing the end of the lesson. "Homework for next week," She said, "Explain in your own words how a colorimeter works." Naruto's groan was the loudest in the class.

* * *

Shikamaru and Sasuke were happy to join their group to Ino's house the next day. Well, Sakura was sure they were happy on the inside, even if they didn't show it. When Ino asked them if they'd like to go, they were both reluctant at first, but then with a little persuasion from Naruto they had decided to go. Sakura wondered what it took to put a smile on the boy's faces.

Ino lived in a big house on the outskirts of town; both her mum and dad were lawyers. Her bedroom was about twice the size of Sakura's, and her living room was about the size of her whole house. Ino had managed to get her parents out of the house, and her brother was staying over at a friend's house, so they had the house to themselves all night.

Seeing as Ino was hosting, she got to choose which movie they were going to watch. She hated horrors, so that was out of the question which Sakura was glad of. Her dad could never understand how she became frightened by horror movies, saying that none of it was real, but it's hard not to get engrossed in the film, and nowadays the special effects were so realistic it was not easy pretending that some of it wasn't real. Ino had finally decided to watch Pirates of the Caribbean: the Curse of the Black Pearl. It was one of her favourite films.

Everyone had been able to make it, even Neji. Naruto look around the house in awe and whistled. "Nice."

_If he thinks this is impressive, he should see Sasuke's place._

All seven of them managed to squeeze on the two black leather sofas in Ino's living room. Sakura was wedged in between Tenten and Shikamaru. Ino got the popcorn out and a few cans of fizzy drink; she was saving the alcohol that her brother agreed to get them for later.

She popped the DVD in, and the opening titles showed up on her fifty inch HD television. Sakura grabbed a can of coke from the table and a handful of popcorn from the tub Tenten was holding and settled down to watch the movie. She found herself watching Sasuke for a little while, and then she adjusted her eyes back to the screen before he caught her.

Half way through the movie she went to the toilet, and when she got back Ino had taken her space beside Tenten and Shikamaru. She grinned at her. Now the only option Sakura had was to either sit on the floor or sit in Ino's original spot, right next to Sasuke.

She hesitated for a second. She thought that would be Ino's dream seat. Why would she move? And then she thought: she was now next to Shikamaru. Was she starting to like him?

Sakura glared at Ino as she made her way over to the spare seat. Because they were so squished on the sofa her arm brushed against Sasuke's as she sat down. This was the closest she'd ever been to a guy like him before. She had a sudden urge to get closer to him, but if she did she would be on his lap. She wanted to lay her head down on his broad shoulders, or lie on his chest and listen to his heart beat. She didn't want him to know how he affected her, but her arms betrayed her and goosebumps appeared where they were touching. Sakura hoped that he was too busy watching the film to notice.

After it had finished, Sakura wanted to bolt upright and stay where she was at the same time. As she was having this internal battle, popcorn landed on her knee; Naruto was grinning at her like a buffoon.

"Popcorn?" He asked her, struggling to keep himself from laughing. Just as she was about to eat it, a hand glided into her line of sight and stole a couple of the small toffee flavoured kernel.

Sasuke popped them into his mouth. "Tasty." She narrowed her eyes at him, pouring the rest of the popcorn that was in her lap into his.

"Here, have the rest." She said, standing up. Ino followed her into the kitchen.

"Drinks time!" Ino announced, opening the fridge and taking out two six packs of lager. She dived into it again and took out two more and a bottle of vodka. She was planning on getting drunk.

Sakura decided this would be the perfect time to get information out of her. "So, what's up with you and Shikamaru?"

"Nothing's up." Ino said, but Sakura was fighting to keep a straight face.

"Come on, Ino. You didn't seem that bothered about him a few days ago and now you're suddenly inviting him into your home? What gives?"

"Okay, okay. I like him; a lot. He's such a nice guy, and sweet. You've got to admit he's cute." Sakura was shocked. Ino had known him a few days and she already liked him? The definition of 'easily infatuated' is Ino Yamanaka.

"What happened to Sasuke?" Sakura asked her.

"He's good looking, heck, he's like a God. But he doesn't pay attention to me. He's more focused on you." Sakura choked on the remainder of the coke she was sipping.

"Me? How did you come up with that idea?"

"He can't keep his eyes off you." She winked, walking back into the living room with the cans of lager stacked up, the bottle of vodka balancing on top. Sakura thought back over what she said. He couldn't keep his eyes off her because he was watching her every move. If he saw any sign that she was going to tell anyone about the kidnapping, well, she didn't know what he'd do. She didn't want to find out. But she was pretty sure that was why _he couldn't keep his eyes off her._

Sasuke walked into the kitchen and past Sakura, locking eyes with her. He dropped his coke can into the bin and seemed to hesitate. She copied him, chucking her can into the bin, realising this was the first time they'd been in the same room alone. She walked back into the living room, not giving him a second glance. Everyone was sat in a circle on the floor. She could see what was coming.

"Sakura, sit down! It's time to play 'Never Have I Ever.'" Tenten said, eager to get started. As much as Sakura was embarrassed to admit it, she had never played the game before. Eighteen years old and she'd never participated in a drinking game.

She sat down next to Tenten, who was sat next to Neji. Sasuke walked in and sat opposite Sakura in between Naruto and Shikamaru. Sakura noticed that Ino was sat down rather close to Shikamaru. So close that their arms were brushing up against each other. Ino poured the vodka into paper cups and handed each of them one. Naruto wanted to start the game off.

"Never have I ever peed in a bush." He said. Shikamaru and Tenten sipped out of their cup. Sakura had to hold in a giggle as she remembered the memory of Tenten, completely drunk, having to go to the toilet in a bush.

"Never have I ever sung in the shower." Sasuke went next. Sakura gulped down a mouthful along with Ino, Tenten and Naruto. Sakura could feel her cheeks turning red, embarrassed. Sasuke smirked at her. She wondered if he was a good singer, as she certainly wasn't.

"Never have I ever played this game." Shikamaru said. Everyone bar Neji and I took a sip.

"Seriously, you three are missing out." Naruto said.

Soon enough it was Sakura's turn. She wasn't very good at this sort of stuff. She could never think of anything. "Er… Never have I ever," she nearly said 'kissed someone' but decided that it would be too embarrassing. That's, right, eighteen and never been kissed, unless she counted Lee in sixth grade, which she didn't. That was totally one sided. "Driven a manual car." Gear sticks confused the hell out of her; she never knew which gear to be in and when to change gear, and the clutch! Automatics were so much easier. Sasuke, Shikamaru, Neji and Tenten all had a drink.

The game went on like that until they had finished the bottle of vodka. Sakura walked into the kitchen to put her cup down, feeling a bit dizzy. She hadn't noticed Sasuke follow her until she swivelled around to walk back into the living room. She bashed into him, almost knocking his can of lager down his shirt.

"Look out." He warned her.

"Don't sneak up on me like that." She scolded him. "Are you following me?"

"What if I am?" He smirked.

"You're a jerk." The alcohol was starting to loosen her tongue. He looked taken aback.

"Why are you so cold towards me, Sakura?" He asked her. That was the first time he had used her name. "I helped you out, remember?"

"I don't want to be kidnapped again." She confessed. "Why did you come to KHS, to check up on me? To make sure I keep my mouth shut?"

"No." But because he hesitated she didn't believe him.

"Liar."

"No. I'm here to stop you from being kidnapped again. Just trust me." He took a large gulp of his lager.

"So someone's out to get me?" Sakura whispered. "I'm scared." That was the first time she had admitted it to herself. It was true, she was scared. They could have done anything to her while she was tied up or locked in that cell. If it wasn't for that girl – and Sasuke – she'd still be there.

"There's no need to be scared. Like I said, trust me. I'm good at my job."

"And what is that exactly?"

"Obeying orders." He looked right into her eyes, and she nearly drowned in his. They were like a black hole, sucking her in. It must be the vodka.

But what he said confused her, "I thought you said you were 'hard to be tamed.'" She quoted.

"I only obey the Ruler, as much as I hate to."

"Hey, you two! You're missing out on the party." Naruto called from the next room. "Who's for beer pong?"

* * *

**Thanks for reading! Please review, it motivates me to write :)**


	5. Chapter Five

**Disclaimer: Naruto is not mine, but the plot is!**

* * *

_~Chapter Five~_

It was midday, and Sasuke was bored. He didn't have a hangover to contend with, his metabolism was much faster than a human. There was nothing happening within the palace, he had completed all his homework that was due in for next week, and Karin and been and gone, although he dreaded her visits anyway. She was so_ annoying_ and was always clinging to him like she didn't have legs of her own to hold herself up. He liked his personal space, and she just didn't understand the term. He was sure it wasn't even in her vocabulary.

Itachi was out on a mission for the SBI, investigating a tip off from one of their sources that a werewolf had gone rogue, shifting in public places and biting anyone it could get its teeth into. There were dozens of humans involved; it would be a long mission for Itachi having to erase all those memories and coming up with cover stories for the humans that the werewolf had already slaughtered.

An idea popped into Sasuke's head, and he shrugged on his jacket and shoes, picking up his car keys from the hook on his bedroom wall. He knew if his father found out he would have hell to pay, but he was curious. The girl seemed nothing like what was said in history books.

He was going to pay Sakura Haruno a visit.

* * *

Waking up with a hangover was not the best welcome to the day. Tenten, who wasn't a drinker, had given Sakura a lift home, and she tried to hide from her dad the fact that she had a killer headache. All she wanted to do was lie on her bed and read a book. As she was finishing her afternoon coffee the doorbell rang and her dad got up from his chair to answer it. She was glad for the interruption, distracting him from grilling her about last night's events.

"Sakura, it's for you." Ichirou called as he craned his neck around the living room door frame. "You never mentioned a boy called Sasuke." Her eyes almost popped out of their sockets. What was he doing here? _How did he know where she lived?_

She put her mug down onto the coffee table and rushed to the front door. "Hey." He greeted. He was really there, stood at her front door. Her father wasn't pulling her leg. He was dressed in black jeans, a white top and a leather jacket. He looked hot.

"Why are you here?" She asked him. He looked as gorgeous as ever, not a hint of a hangover. Although she didn't recall him acting drunk last night, even though he gulped down as many cans as the rest of them.

"I thought we could go for a ride." She peered around him and saw his shiny black Audi parked on the street. He didn't mean have a ride in that, did he? "I was thinking about how you said you've never driven a manual before. I could give you a lesson if you like?" She narrowed her eyes at him. He trusted her to drive his Audi R8. Sakura, who had only driven an _automatic_ car three times in her life.

He sensed her hesitation, "Come on, I know a cool place where we could go. It's not far from here. I won't bite." He smirked. She shouted to her dad to tell him she was leaving and put her shoes on. She stood outside the Audi, eyeing it up. If she even got a scratch on the paintwork he would surely kill her.

He drove them to an airfield that hadn't been used in years. The whole drive there was quiet, but it wasn't one of those awkward silences that you need to think fast for something to say to fill the gaps. She looked out the window the whole way there, watching the trees pass them by, noticing how the roads were getting quieter the further away from town they drove. They were truly alone together. Her heart beat faster as she realised this.

"I'll get you home in time for tea." Sasuke said. She swore he could hear the sudden change in the pace of her heart from his expression, but that was impossible. When they arrived at the destination they swapped seats. Just sitting in the driver's side, her hands resting on the steering wheel, made her feel out of her depth. And sat right next to Sasuke in the confined space – just the two of them – made her feel out of her comfort zone. But strangely, she liked it. The car had six gears, three pedals – one more than she was used to – and more gadgets than she ever thought possible.

"First you need to put the clutch down, the left pedal, and put the car in first. Then you can turn the engine on." He instructed her. She did as he told her, the car roaring to life. Startled, she immediately released the clutch and the car lurched forwards, stalling. "Always keep the clutch down when you're not moving and you're in gear."

"Sorry." She muttered. She tried again, this time not lifting her foot off the pedal. He then explained to her how to find the biting point. She was soon moving, speeding up until she was in forth gear then drove to a steady stop, Sasuke instructing her, reassuring her and giving her advice all the way.

"You're getting the hang of this. You're a quick learner." He said.

"Do you come here often?"

"Naruto and I sometimes have races down here. Its fun, you should come sometime." She agreed, adrenaline running through her veins from controlling the car. "Want to see how you really drive this car?" he grinned for the first time and she rolled her eyes; boys and their toys.

Once again he was driving, but this time like a complete maniac. Twisting the wheel right and left, drifting the car. But to say it was a sports car, it was surprisingly comfortable. After the initial shock of the steering she started to enjoy it. She could see why people race for a hobby; it was such an adrenaline rush. After a while he pulled the handbrake up and the back end of the car swerved around one hundred and eighty degrees, coming to a stop.

"That was amazing!" She breathed, her heart pounding in her ears. She started to laugh uncontrollably. Maybe it was from the relief of having come to a stop, or from the adrenaline.

"I think it's time you should be getting back." He said after she could breathe again.

"Do we have to?" She really didn't want to leave. It was fun, weaving around invisible cones, cornering so sharp that the car was nearly on two wheels. She could tell that this was what this car was made for, not just for road driving.

He smiled at her as he put the car back into first. "I suppose one more go wouldn't hurt." And they were off again. She started to squeal with delight whenever he spun the wheel to fast, making the car swerve off course. The closest she'd ever been to this was Go Karting for her fifteenth birthday, and that wasn't even in the same league as this.

He dropped Sakura off outside her house. She was grinning like an idiot as he walked her to her door. "I guess I'll see you tomorrow." He said. Her hand was hovering over the door handle, not wanting to leave him. It was getting dark; they must have been out for hours.

"Yeah, see you tomorrow." She nearly suggested that they could hang out for a bit longer, but the sight of her dad peering out of the living room window ushered her inside. Now she just had to put up with him interviewing her about the mysterious Sasuke Uchiha.

* * *

At Monday lunch, nothing was out of place. Everyone was catching up on what their friends did at the weekend, sat at their usual tables. All except for one person: Karin Taka. She had dragged a spare chair from a nearby table and sat in between Naruto and Sasuke, with Ino, Sakura and Tenten glaring daggers at her.

Karin was the biggest bitch in KHS. Last month they were playing volleyball and Sakura was hit in the back of the head at least five times, each ball thrown by Karin. And just the week before the red head poured acid all over Sakura's biology notes, and all she could do was watch six months of hard work dissolve away. She had to photocopy Tenten's notes, which weren't very in depth. And last year Karin threw Sakura's brand new Blackberry down the toilet. Karin Taka was a bitch. Sakura had never done anything to her; she had no idea what she had against her.

"Hey, Sasuke-kun." Karin interrupted Naruto in his story about how he had once nearly fallen off a water ride. Karin wrapped her arms around a certain dark haired man: Sasuke. Sakura noted that a fan girl had never progressed to actual skin contact before.

"Karin." Sasuke said without emotion. _Wait, what? He knew her?_

"I'm so glad you decided to enrol in KHS! Now my friends will believe me that you're my fiancée! Come on, they've been dying to meet you." Was it Sakura, or did Karin give her a dirty look as she dragged Sasuke away?

"FIANCÉE! Sasuke has a _fiancée_? Why did he never mention it? Why did it have to be KARIN?" Ino ranted. Tenten tried to tell her to keep her voice down; they were getting a lot of funny looks. Sakura's green orbs followed Sasuke and Karin's path to the popular table, watching her friends shower the raven haired boy with questions. The guys punched him lightly on the arm in greeting (how that was a greeting, Sakura would never know), and the girls swooned at his good looks, looking pleased to meet him but Sakura knew their insides are green with envy.

Naruto sighed, scratching the back of his spiky blonde head. "The whole school will know about it in two minutes with Karin's big mouth, although it's not supposed to be a secret." Sakura wondered why Karin hadn't shown her face at their lunch table before, but then she realised that the red haired girl hadn't been in her biology class for a week, due to being on holiday. Where to, Sakura didn't care.

"You know Karin Taka?" Sakura asked.

"How could we not? She's Sasuke's fiancée. She practically lives at the estate. And seeing as Shikamaru and I live there aswel it's hard not to bump into her." Naruto answered.

"I don't know how he puts up with her." Shikamaru shook his brunette head after opening his jaw to yawn.

"She's his _fiancée_?" Ino was still screeching. She wasn't going to shut up until she had answers. Sakura started to wonder what Sasuke and her little outing with the Audi had meant. Was he playing with her? Messing with her feelings? What was going on in the Uchiha's head?

"Arranged marriage." Shikamaru stated.

"You could say his family are…" Naruto searched for the right word, "old fashioned."

"You're telling me." Tenten said under her breath.

* * *

**It's a short chapter, but Sasuke and Sakura bonded a little. xD I promise the next chapter will be longer!  
**

**Please review, it encourages me to write :)**


	6. Chapter Six

**Disclaimer: Naruto is not mine!**

* * *

_~Chapter Six~_

_When's the wedding?_

_What's the colour scheme?_

_You two make such a cute couple!_

_You better treat her right!_

Sasuke was fuming. All conversation in the palace that day had been about him and Karin. He didn't _want_ there to be a 'him and Karin'. He'd rather it to be him and a certain pink haired girl.

He shook his head. What was he thinking? His father had set up this marriage when Sasuke was only five years old. All his life he had known he was engaged to Karin, and he tried desperately to like her, knowing that he would have to spend eternity with her. But he couldn't, he just couldn't. She was annoying, loud, bitchy, selfish, and all she ever spoke about was the wedding. His ears needed a break. He wanted to make his father proud, but seriously, Karin _did his head in_.

He had decided to take a walk. He didn't have a destination, just as far away from the palace as he could get. He would have to go through with this wedding if he liked it or not, it was his duty as a prince of the supernatural world. Karin was a respected vampire from a well known family. In everyone else's eyes it was the perfect match, an Uchiha with a Taka. Itachi was already married to Miyu, who was nice, friendly and the complete opposite of Karin. Sasuke fumed over why Itachi always had the better outcomes.

He found himself walking down a familiar road. His legs had taken him to Sakura's street, and he cursed. She already disliked him for being involved in kidnapping her, even though he didn't know anything about it. His father never told him anything.

He turned around and walked in the opposite direction, not wanting Sakura to think he was a stalker. He wanted to keep her safe from Orochimaru, for the supernatural world's sake and for his own selfish reasons. He couldn't bare the sight of her with him. God knows what the snake would do to her.

A blood curdling scream echoed off the houses. Sasuke stiffened, the hairs on his arms standing on end. He sniffed the air, the scent of blood and cherry blossoms filled his nostrils. He followed the scent, sprinting down the street to a dark alleyway, texting Naruto and Shikamaru his location. Luckily they were in the vicinity – it was their turn to guard Haruno's house. All he could think about was one thing.

_Sakura!_

* * *

Ichirou had run out of milk, so he gave Sakura some money to go and buy some. This was why she was now searching the contents of a corner shop for the white stuff at half ten at night. Ichirou couldn't live without his cup of tea just before bed. The cashier watched Sakura's every move. They closed in about twenty minutes and she probably wanted to get off early to make the most of the rest of her night.

There was only one other person in the small shop. The man looked to be in his early fifties, straight, pitch black hair falling down his back. He was stood in front of the milk fridge and as Sakura leant over to get a bottle he spoke to her.

"Lovely night, isn't it?" The smile on his face made Sakura feel uneasy.

"Yeah, I suppose." She said, wanting to get home quickly so she could watch the end of Family Guy in her nice warm living room.

The shop was a fifteen minute walk away from her house. She couldn't wait to see Hina's wagging tail as she walked through the door, even though she would only have been gone for about forty minutes. She was looking forward to a cup of tea as she had gone all that way in the pitch-black coldness to get some milk. She smiled at the cashier as she paid for the milk, but she didn't return the gesture. She gave Sakura her change and sthe pink-haired girl walked out onto the street. It was a beautiful night; clear skies and the stars were out, shining with all their glory. She would love to lay down on a hilltop with someone and watch them glimmer.

"I'd never thought I'd see you again."

Sakura froze. At first she thought that the king had come to kidnap her again, but it wasn't his voice; it was another's. He sounded oddly familiar. After a glance around her surroundings she decided she was hearing things as nobody was about. She carried on walking, but this time she was more on edge. Instead of looking up and admiring the stars she was peering down every street she had to cross, looking out for anybody in the dim glow of the streetlights.

A figure emerged out of the shadows of a hedgerow surrounding a bungalow's front garden. Even in the darkness Sakura could tell the figure was deathly pale, whiter than Sasuke. His long dark hair caught her attention; it was the man from the shop. He took a step forwards whilst she took three steps back.

"Relax. I'm not going to hurt you."

_Yeah, right_ Sakura thought. _Then why are you lurking around in the shadows?_ She looked at his hands – which were hanging by his side – for a knife or a gun. They were empty. Well, that was something.

Another step forward, three steps back. Sakura's back was pressed up against a garden wall. Now she was the one in the shadows, and the man was illuminated by a looming streetlight. She could see his features; hollow cheeks and unusual yellow eyes set in a long face. He walked right up to her and sniffed the air. She held her breath. He scowled. Sakura didn't smell that bad, did she? She thought her perfume smelt nice.

The next thing she knew, the man had grabbed her by the arm and dragged her into an alleyway, making her drop the milk to the ground. What was it with Sakura and people dragging her into alleyways? The man moved extraordinarily fast, faster than an Olympic sprinter.

"You are human." Sakura didn't know what to say to that. _No, I'm Frankenstein's monster. _"The rumours are true, what a shame. I think it's time you regained your memories back, Sakura Haruno. Then you will come back to me."

_What?_

"It won't hurt."

_Move._

"Just a little bite." He opened his mouth and his canines were elongated, ending in sharp points that looked deadly.

_Move!_

He brushed her hair away from her neck and tilted his head towards her. His fingers were so cold.

_Move! God damnit Sakura, move!_

Sakura shoved him away from her and punched him in the jaw. He was not expecting that. As he staggered back she went to kick him, however he recovered quickly and side stepped out of her way. He grabbed her arms and held them behind her back like he was going to handcuff her, pressing her body against the wall, with him behind her. Sakura tried to squirm her way out of his grasp, but he pulled on her arms and it felt like they were going to come out of their sockets. He was so _strong._

"Come back to me, Sakura." He whispered as she screamed. The pain was unbearable. It felt like he had stuck two knives in her neck. When she ran out of breath she went to scream again, tears streaming down her face, but he clamped a hand over her mouth. She could feel her blood leaving her body, the warm liquid trickling down her throat. Her life was being drained out of her and there was nothing she could do to stop it. Just as she was about to pass out he loosened his grip and cut his wrist. Sakura fell to the floor, too weak to even lift her head up. The man put his pouring wrist to her mouth. She would have struggled, but she didn't have the strength. She almost gagged when she tasted his blood, but she had to swallow otherwise she would have drowned. The man's determined face started to blur. She didn't know whether that was because she was about to go unconscious or because of the tears spilling from her eyes. Her neck felt like it was burning, scorching with every faint beat of her heart. She wanted it to stop. _Please._

The man took his wrist off Sakura's mouth. Or rather, he was yanked off her. She heard the sound of flesh hitting a brick wall and an almighty crack behind her. It didn't sound like bone though; the bricks had cracked from the force of his body.

"Stay away from her!" Even though her mind was fuzzy, she recognised that voice.

"N-Naruto?" She whispered. A falcon flew up above her, screeching. A dark shape leapt over her limp body. It looked like a fox. A deep growl sounded further along the alleyway where the silhouette had disappeared. She tried to move her head to see what was going on but her body wasn't obeying.

"Get away from me, idiotic shifters!" The man cried. Shifters? Was the pain that bad that she was hallucinating? Was she already unconscious and dreaming this entire scenario up? Or was she really tucked up in her cosy bed having a nightmare? Sakura couldn't tell. Her hand felt wet, but warm. Weird. She looked down with her eyes at it resting near her neck. If she could scream, she would have. Her hand was soaked with blood. Her blood.

She was going to die.

_Ino-pig and Tenten, you have been the best friends anyone could ever wish for. I love you guys. Naruto and Shikamaru, you two are great. Sasuke… it was really fun at the airfield. Sorry I can't take you up on your offer of watching you and Naruto race. It would have been amazing. I'm sorry for being pissed off at you about the kidnapping. It wasn't your fault. _

She was so weak that she couldn't keep her eyes open.

"Shikamaru, go and see how she is! Take her to safety." There was Naruto's voice again, "I'll take care _him_."

"You will never kill me." The man spat.

"Maybe not, but I can distract you." The growl echoed off the bricks walls again. Sakura sensed that someone was hovering over her, most likely Shikamaru. What were they doing here? Two fingers rested over her neck and another hand was placed over her ribcage.

After a few seconds Shikamaru shouted, "She's going to be okay if we get her out of here. Her breathing is shallow and her pulse is weak, but that's to be expected." Sakura could feel herself slipping away into the unconsciousness. "Sakura, can you hear me?" She attempted to mumble a yes, but it came out as more of a moan.

"Where's Uchiha when you need him?" Shikamaru murmured, placing a piece of cloth on Sakura's neck where the monster had bitten her.

"Right here." Another voice said. Sasuke, he was here. Sakura managed to open her eyes slightly. There was another crack as Sasuke shoved the devilish man into the brick wall. "If you lay another finger on her I will personally rip your throat out." That wasn't Sasuke's voice. Well, it was, but it was almost a snarl. Another crack of the bricks.

"Sakura-chan? Sakura! Talk to me! Where does it hurt?" Naruto rushed over to the pink haired girl.

Before she could build up the strength to answer him Shikamaru spoke for her. "Where do you think, dumbass?"

"Orochimaru could have done anything to her before he bit her, like broken one of her bones." A shadow knelt down beside Sakura. Sasuke lifted her torso up in his arms so that she was sitting up.

"You're safe now, he's gone." He said, wiping the tears that had stayed on Sakura's cheeks. "I won't let him hurt you again, I promise."

She passed out.

* * *

"Hey, she's awake!" Naruto said once Sakura had opened her eyes and let out a massive moan. Her neck was killing her. She went to move one of hands to press against it but then someone else's hand grabbed hers, stopping her.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you." Sasuke said. He let go and walked to the other side of the room, sitting in a very stylish looking chair by the window. "This isn't going according to plan at all." He placed a hand on his forehead.

"Where am I?" Sakura said groggily, looking around the strange room. Silk curtains were drawn across the windows. Was it still night time? It seemed like she was in a bedroom. She was laid on a four poster bed, and there was a grand fireplace opposite her with a carriage clock stood on the mantle piece. It was half past three in the morning.

"The palace. You're going to stay here while you recover. Don't worry, we've phoned your dad and given him an excuse as to why you won't be home for the next few days. He thinks I've had a family emergency and you're staying at mine to help me out." Naruto explained. Sakura's memory was fuzzy of last night. All she could remember was milk, black hair, a fox and a falcon. What the hell had happened? Had the animals escaped from the zoo?

Two people were stood at the end of the bed: Naruto and Shikamaru. Sasuke was sat in the chair, and in the shadows near the door was a silhouette of a tall man. He obviously didn't want to be noticed, so naturally Sakura stared at him.

"Er, Sir?" Naruto asked the dark figure. It took a step forwards into the light of the small lamp on the bedside table and continued to walk up to the end of Sakura's bed. The waves of light reflected off his face and she gasped, bringing the duvet up over her face so that she was peering over the top. She'd always wondered why people did that, it wasn't not like a duvet is going to save you.

"Sakura, it's okay." Naruto reassured her. It was the man from before. The one with the crown on his dark head of hair. The one who had told her she had killed his father. The Ruler.

"You were supposed to not let Orochimaru get his hands on her. Any suspicious activity and you were to report to me or the SBI." The man said.

"I know Sir, but we didn't know Orochimaru was going to ambush her." Naruto said.

"We didn't even know he knew Sakura was alive." Shikamaru backed his friend up, scratching the back of his head. He didn't seem to be bothered about being told off by this man who had high authority.

"Spare me the excuses, you should have thought of all the possibilities and created a plan for each scenario. Shikamaru, with your strategic abilities I thought you would have done better. You all need to try harder! We can't afford for Orochimaru to get a hold of her." He turned to the boy in the chair who had his head in his hands. "Sasuke, I expected better from you. I'm disappointed." The man walked out of the room, not seeing Sasuke's shoulders slump the tiniest bit at his words.

"You enrolled at KHS to protect me? Who do I need protecting from? Why didn't you tell me someone was out to kill me?" Sakura questioned, her voice becoming louder with every word.

"Who do you think?" Sasuke snapped at her. "Are you that stupid?"

She was taken aback. "Hey! I-"

"The man who attacked you, his name is Orochimaru." He paused for Sakura to take in the piece of information. "He tried to turn you so you would regain your memories. He wants you back."

"I'm confused. Turn me into what?"

"Start from the beginning, Sasuke." Naruto scolded him. "Two hundred –"

"No! Baka, not yet." Sasuke interrupted. Sakura saw a flash of something white from her memory of last night; something white and sharp. Something important that she should remember.

"When then?"

"When she's ready." _Something to do with teeth._

"When will she ever be ready? She needs to know."

"Just not yet, okay?" _Fangs._

"Vampire." Sakura whispered. All three of them heard her. Shikamaru's vacant expression turned to one of surprise, Naruto jumped up to her side and stared at her, and Sasuke nearly fell out of his chair.

"What?" Sasuke choked.

"This Orochimaru person, he was really fast and strong. And he had fangs. He bit me." Sakura paused for a moment, thinking. "He bit me!" She sat up sharply but had to lie back down again as the room spun.

"You've lost a lot of blood, Sakura. Try not to move much." Naruto rested his hand on her shoulder.

"There was blood everywhere, my blood, all over my hand. I was going to die. He bit me!"

"Sakura-chan –"

"He was going to turn me into a… a vampire! Does that make me a vampire now? I don't want to be! Take me home! I want to go home! Where's my dad? HE BIT ME!" Sakura sat up again, ignoring the dizziness.

"Sakura, calm down!" Naruto shouted over her hysterics. He pinned her down by her shoulders.

"Get off me! GET OFF! Are you a vampire too? You're going to kill me!"

Shikamaru poured ice-cold water over Sakura's face. She gasped, catching her breath.

"No, I am not a vampire. You are not a vampire. You're dad is fine, sleeping at home. I've told you, he thinks you're at mine. Everything is taken care of, and you're safe." Naruto said. Sakura stared up at him, breathing hard. Now that she had stopped being hysterical she felt as though she was going to faint. "Listen to me. You have lost a lot of blood and you need to rest. We are going to leave you here and we expect to see you here in the morning, got it? Don't go wondering about. Goodnight, Sakura." Both Naruto and Shikamaru exited the room. Sasuke lifted himself up out of the chair and walked past the bed towards the door.

"Sasuke?" Sakura whispered. He stood still, awaiting her question. "Did I imagine the fangs?"

He gently shook his head and walked out the room.

_Well, damn._

* * *

**I enjoyed writing this chapter! More to come soon.**

**It was my 19th birthday yesterday and I got a nintendo 3DS XL & Animal Crossing: New Leaf! I can't stop playing on it, it's such a distraction when I need to be studying for my exams next week. Four more days and then it's the summer holidays! xD**

**Please review, I really appreciate it and it encourages me to write! :)**


	7. Chapter Seven

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.  
**

* * *

_~Chapter Seven~_

Sasuke inched the door open with a pile of clothes in his hands, trying not to make a sound. He didn't want to wake the sleeping girl; she'd had a rough night as it was. The sun had just risen in the east and a patch of light was shining through the window and onto the chair on which he had sat on the night before. Sakura was still laid in bed, snuggled up in the duvet, her legs tangled up in the sheets. Her bright pink hair was plainly visible against the white cloth.

Sasuke could safely say that she knew about the Supernatural world, or rather, she knew of the creatures that occupied it. He had a lot of explaining to do. Normally when a human found out about them the SBI were ordered to erase their memories. Would his father do that to Sakura? He walked over to the window and peered out onto the clean cut grass, extravagant flower beds and pruned hedges.

He would make sure nobody would touch Sakura's memories. She had already had them tampered with once before, he wouldn't let them do it to her again. It wasn't fair on her. She _belonged_ in his world. After all, she was a vampire in her previous life. She had a right to keep her memories, that's if she wanted too.

Part of him was glad that she knew, this way he could be more open around her instead of putting barriers up whenever the topic of conversation became a little risky. He was glad that she was one step closer to finding out who she really was, but would she want to know? The Sakura Haruno he had read about in books and the girl who was laid in bed behind him were two completely different people. What would it do to her psychologically if she knew about her past deeds?

Her reaction to being bitten unsettled Sasuke. She was hysterical, and he wondered if she thought vampires were terrifying, monstrous beings that was written in fiction novels. If she did, he would prove her wrong. He didn't want to scare her, but maybe for the time being, it would be best for her if he kept his distance until she fully recovered.

When he found her laid there on the floor, her fresh blood covering the ground around her head, he had thought the worst. He thought he was too late. But then Shikamaru had said she was breathing, very shallow, but breathing. He could not describe the relief that consumed him after hearing those words. The first thing he checked after chasing Orochimaru off was whether she had started the transition – she had exchanged blood with a vampire after all. But she had been conscious when he reached her, and a quick sniff of her scent pointed out that she hadn't drank enough of the snake's blood as he could still smell her human blood within her system. Shikamaru had dragged Orochimaru off her just in time. A few more seconds and everything would have been different.

He drew the curtains closed so that less light entered the room. Sakura needed her sleep and he didn't want the light to wake her up before her body had recovered. He placed the clothes what his mother had given him down on the chair, ready for her when she woke up. They were old clothes that Mikoto hadn't worn in a while, and they looked to be Sakura's size.

He silently walked out of the room, gently closing the door without a sound.

* * *

The brightness of the room eventually woke Sakura up from her slumber. She had a fitful night, with dreams of the black haired man – Orochimaru – stalking her from the shadows, waiting to strike. His hands and face were covered in blood, but whose she did not know. His unusual yellow eyes watched her every move, and in the dream she had tried to find her way home, to escape from the monster, but the streets were like a maze, leading her to her starting point.

She wasn't used to waking up without her alarm, and she woke up just after midday. She was still exhausted from the blood loss, but she couldn't lie in the bed any longer. She was too curious about whom this Orochimaru was, and if Sasuke wouldn't tell her, she'd find someone who would.

There were a clean pair of jeans and a red top spread out on the chair that Sasuke had sat in last night. Someone must have placed them there that morning before she had woken up. The clothes she was still wearing from last night were plastered in her blood. Before she got changed she discovered the un-suite bathroom and decided to have a much needed shower.

Before she climbed in she peeled off the clean bandage around her neck. Someone must have redressed it when she was sleeping. The side of her neck stung as the hot water bounced off her body. Whoever had dressed her wound had cleaned off the blood, but there were two deep puncture marks and the wounds were an angry red. If vampires were real, then were all the other myths true? Sakura dreaded to think about the hidden world that she'd discovered. She'd always thought that humans were the top of the food chain – obviously not.

She dried herself and got changed into the clothes that were left out for her. Naruto had told her to stay in the room until morning, but she was bored, and it _was _midday. She wasn't exactly breaking Naruto's rules. She walked over to the door and lightly put pressure on the handle. It clicked and the heavy door opened. She was surprised that it wasn't locked.

She found herself in a long corridor with other rooms like hers leading off it. Her room was right at the end of the hallway, and she felt like she was being isolated from the other residents. She walked forwards and around a corner where a flight of stairs were waiting. She climbed down them and along a few more corridors, frightened that she had completely lost her way. Then she heard voices to her right so she slowly swung the door which was partially open. The occupants all turned around to face her.

"Sakura-chan!" Naruto bounded up to her, enveloping her in a hug. "How are you feeling?"

"Tired." She admitted. She had stumbled across one of the living rooms, and it looked like a meeting was being held. At least half a dozen people were stood by the fire place, and all conversation stopped as she walked in. Sakura recognised Naruto, Shikamaru, Sasuke and the Ruler. Sasuke averted his eyes so that he was looking anywhere but at her, and then turned his back to her to whisper something to the Ruler.

A beautiful woman with long black hair handed her a glass of water. "I'm Mikoto Uchiha, Sasuke's mother. It is so nice to meet you." Sakura accepted the drink with thanks, and gladly gulped it down.

"We have a lot of explaining to do." Shikamaru sighed, running a hand through his hair. "This is so troublesome." Sakura sat down when Mikoto offered; thinking it best to be perched on something solid, otherwise her legs might give way.

"Shikamaru and I are shapeshifters." Naruto said. "I was the fox you saw last night, and Shikamaru was the falcon."

"We can only transform into one animal and we can't decide what that one animal will be. It all depends on our personality. That's the theory. I'm a falcon, maybe because I have a good eye and I'm a quick thinker. Naruto's a fox probably because he's cunning and sly." Shikamaru smirked. It was the longest speech Sakura had heard him speak.

"Hey, they are good qualities to a fox aswel! Don't just tell her the bad parts!" Naruto whined. He turned to Sakura. "There are not just shapeshifters in our world – the supernatural world. They are werewolves and vampires too."

Sakura winced when the blonde mentioned the last creature. Her hand involuntarily reached up to the wounds on her neck, which she had placed the bandage back over after her shower. While she was sleeping Mikoto had redressed the wounds.

"Is Sasuke a shapeshifter?" Sakura asked, looking over at him. He still had his back to her but stiffened when he heard the question. However, despite her question, she couldn't remember him changing into anything last night.

"No, I'm a vampire." Sasuke said, finally turning to face her. He looked her in the eye for less than a second and then avoided her gaze once again.

"How did you know where I was?" Sakura asked him.

The raven haired man sighed. "Naruto and Shikamaru were keeping watch over you, in case something like this was to happen." He decided to leave out the part that _he_ was the one to summon Naruto and Shikamaru. It wouldn't look good to the Ruler that the two shapeshifters had been slacking. Although they were following orders to watch over Sakura's _house_, and probably didn't notice that she had stepped out for a walk.

"I'm sorry we got off to a bad start, Haruno." The Ruler said. "But you will be kept under close surveillance from now on. We can't take any chances." He placed a hand on Sasuke's shoulder. "Naruto, Shikamaru and my son will be your bodyguards from now on. You will be staying here for a while until this all dies down. Your father has been informed, so no need to worry about him. He is safe."

Sakura's eyes widened at his words. The Ruler was Sasuke's _father?_ Did that make Sasuke the prince of the supernatural world? She shook her head; there were more important matters to deal with.

"What does Orochimaru want with me?" She asked.

"It would be best if you didn't know." The Ruler said, turning away to walk out the door.

"I think I have a right to know if someone is out to kill me. Would someone please stop evading the question and answer me straight!" She raised her voice. She would much rather she be told the horrible truth than a comforting lie.

"He doesn't want to kill you; he wants to change you into a vampire so that you can be by his side once again." The Ruler stated, and walked out of the room without any other explanation.

Sasuke went to follow his father out of the door but Sakura followed him and grabbed his arm when no one was about. He stared down at her hand like he didn't know what to do.

"What do you want?"

"Why didn't you tell me about Orochimaru in the first place? I could have been more careful."

"You wouldn't stand a chance against him no matter how careful you are." He started to walk down the corridor but Sakura stopped him again.

"What do you mean by that? I'm perfectly capable of looking after myself!" Although she was grateful that she had Naruto, Shikamaru and Sasuke watching over her, it made her feel that little bit safer. Orochimaru had scared the wits out of her.

"I mean that you're only a human and he's a vampire. He's stronger than you, faster. He has better hearing and sharper sight."

"Like you then." She crossed her arms over her chest.

"I would never hurt you."

"Then stop avoiding me! In that room you couldn't even look me in the eye. Yes, I'm scared of vampires and what they are capable of, but you are not evil like Orochimaru, and neither are your family." She hissed, not wanting to shout and cause a scene. There were maids and servants walking around the corridors, dusting picture frames, sweeping floors and transporting linen. She had a feeling gossip travelled fast in the palace.

"I don't want you to be afraid of me, Sakura."

"Well, I'm not." She huffed.

"We didn't know that Orochimaru had any idea that you were alive. He must have seen you wandering around, but we were so careful and thorough. Naruto and Shikamaru always checked the perimeter of the school before and after class and they watched over your house. I have no idea how he could have known about you."

* * *

Sakura was wandering around the palace, trying to find a kitchen of some sort. Her stomach was growling and she felt weak from the lack of sugar. Next time she saw Naruto, Sasuke or Shikamaru she would ask them for a tour of the place, it was like a maze.

When she finally found the kitchen, someone was already there drinking a glass of dark red liquid. Sakura shivered, having a good idea of what it was.

"Hello, Karin." Sakura greeted coldly. She wasn't expecting her to be in the grounds, but then she remembered that Karin was Sasuke's fiancée after all. It was only a matter of time before she bumped into her. The red headed girl looked annoyed, narrowing her eyes at Sakura.

"Fugaku must be out of his mind to let you stay here. Orochimaru will find you soon enough, no matter how many guards he has." She smirked.

"Orochimaru has no idea where I am, and the palace is safe."

"He has his contacts. You'll never be safe for too long."

"What have you got against me, Karin? I have never done anything to you, and you've made my life hell in high school." Sakura confronted her for the first time. She had wanted to get this off her chest for years but had never had the courage to do so.

"You are the famous Sakura Haruno. Everyone hates you. They may put on a smile when they see you, but deep down they _despise_ you. I just chose to make my feelings known." Sakura was confused and hurt by her words. If everyone really hated her then why were they trying to protect her?

"It sounds like you want me to get caught by Orochimaru." Sakura said.

"You deserve punishment for everything that you have done. Orochimaru will give you that punishment ten times over, and then he will be the rightful ruler of the supernatural world with your help. I've already sent a text to him. He knows where you are."

"W-what?" Sakura stuttered, completely stunned by her words. Karin was making no sense whatsoever apart from the last part.

"But you won't tell anyone, will you Sakura? Because if you do I will rip out your throat, and don't doubt that I won't do it. I'm a vampire, after all. Oh, and stay away from _my_ Sasuke. He's taken."

"Sakura, dear, would you like some lunch?" Mikoto walked in the room along with a woman who was most likely the cook. Mikoto registered Sakura's shocked expression and wondered what Karin had said to her. She knew how horrible the Taka girl could be. If it was up to her Sasuke would be able to choose any girl he wanted to marry, and she was positive that he wouldn't chose Karin. Mikoto had never liked the girl, but tolerated her. "The boys are in the living room playing a video game if you would like to join them."

"I would love some lunch, anything will do." Sakura said in a daze, walking to the living room where she had been earlier that day. She was trying to make sense of all what Karin had told her. She had worked out three things:

1) Everyone secretly hated her for some unknown reason.

2) Orochimaru wanted the throne, and she could somehow help him.

3) Karin was Orochimaru's spy.

And she couldn't tell anyone, otherwise Karin would kill her.

* * *

**Sorry for the late update! I've had writers block and I've been so busy these past couple of weeks I haven't had chance to write. But the good news is that I've now finished college for the summer! I'm going to University in September which I'm excited and nervous about.**

**Please review, it encourages me to write and I really appreciate it. :)  
**

**Oh and I've uploaded a Hunger Games fanfiction if you want to check it out.**


	8. Chapter Eight

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto!**

* * *

_~Chapter Eight~_

"Do you like basketball?" Naruto asked Sakura the next day as the two of them accompanied Sasuke and Shikamaru to the courts.

"Not really, I'll just watch." She replied. She had never been into sports; it was more Tenten's thing. She glanced over at Sasuke, wanting desperately to tell him about Karin. They had a spy in their ranks, and she needed to be stopped. However, if the Ruler suddenly discovered the fact that Karin was a spy then the red headed girl would surely know that Sakura was the one to grass.

"Come on, not even a little game?" Naruto pleaded. Shikamaru scolded him, saying that Sakura was still quite weak from the attack. However, Sakura couldn't stand the disappointed look on Naruto's face so she agreed to play just one game. She felt a need to tell the guys that she wasn't very good at the ball game, but she decided that they would find out soon enough. Naruto insisted that she'd be on his team, against Sasuke and Shikamaru. They played for about fifteen minutes with Naruto and Sakura losing badly.

A woman sat down on the bench at the edge of the court and watched the last couple of minutes of the game. Sakura recognised her: two blonde pig-tails, brown eyes and a massive chest. It as the woman who Ino had bumped into at the cinema. It seemed like months ago hen in fact it was only a couple of weeks.

"Granny Tsunade! Fancy a game?" Naruto called out to the woman.

"I wish you wouldn't call me that, Naruto! You kids keep playing, I'll just watch."

After another five minutes Sakura was out of breath and had had enough, so she dropped out of the game and sat down beside Tsunade to watch the three guys play. She noticed they had been holding back while she was playing, and now they moved at full speed, dashing up and down the court way faster than a human could. Sakura sat mesmerised.

"Are you enjoying your time here?" Tsunade asked.

Sakura nodded. "It's very nice here. Very… grand."

"I'm afraid I started all of this." Tsunade sighed. "At the cinema I was visiting a friend when I bumped into you and those two girls. I had to report it to Fugaku, I'm sorry. It must be so overwhelming for you."

"I can understand why you did it. But I still don't understand _why me_." Sakura said, leaning over so that her elbows rested on her knees and her head as in her hands.

"The time will soon come when you find the answer to all your questions." Tsunade said. To say she only looked about twenty five, her eyes looked much older. If she was a supernatural being she could be any age. For all Sakura knew she could be a hundred years old.

"If you don't mind me asking, what are you? I mean, are you human, or a shapeshifter or…?" Sakura trailed off, feeling embarrassed.

Tsunade laughed. "I'm a vampire, like the royal family and Sasuke over there. I was made two hundred and thirty years ago." Sakura's eyes widened. The woman was _much _older than she had imagined. She bet Tsunade had a lot of stories to tell.

"What's the difference between a shapeshifter and a werewolf? Surely they're similar?"

"A shapeshifter can shift at any time they like, but werewolves only shift at the full moon and can only change into a wolf. Younger werewolves can sometimes go into bloodlust when they change until they can learn to control it."

"Are all the myths about vampires true? Do you sleep in coffins? Are you repulsed by garlic? You can obviously come out in the daylight." Sakura deduced.

"The first one is a myth. We love our comfort just as much as humans do. I wouldn't say we are _repulsed_ by garlic, but our sensitive sense of smell does make it a little uncomfortable to be around, as with any other strong smelling fragrance. We can come out in the sun, but it weakens us a little. Newborn vampires can be very sensitive to bright light, but they get used to it." Tsunade explained. Sakura was disappointed that she couldn't wear a garlic necklace to ward off Orochimaru.

"You are the only person around here who is answering all of my questions. Everyone else either gives me half an answer or doesn't answer me at all." Sakura muttered. She hated being left in the dark, and she definitely knew something was being kept from her.

"I like to tell the truth as much as I can. But there are some things you need to find out on your own. The others are only trying to protect you."

"Guys, dinner is ready!" A man called from the French doors of the palace. He was stood far away, but if Sakura squinted she thought he looked a little like Sasuke.

"Itachi!" Naruto ran towards the man, with the rest of them following behind. "How was your mission?"

"We managed to erase most of the villager's memories without suspicion and the werewolf is in the cells. Father is deciding what to do with him." Itachi seemed to notice Sakura then, but he smiled at her without hostility which surprised her. "You must be Sakura. Nice to meet you. I'm Itachi Uchiha, Sasuke's older brother."

Sakura could see the resemblance between this strange man and Sasuke. They both had Mikoto's eyes and Fugaku's nose, and they were both extremely good looking. She felt an instant liking to Itachi's warm expression, and hoped they could be good friends.

"This is my cue to leave. I need to hunt." Tsunade said. She waved goodbye and then disappeared in a blur. Vampire speed, Sakura thought.

"A troublesome thing about vampires, they need blood about once every four days." Shikamaru said.

Sasuke threw a ball at the back of his head. "Watch out when you're asleep, Nara. You might be my next victim." Naruto instantly looked at Sakura with Sasuke's words, and the Uchiha did the same, realising what he had just said.

"A-anyway, I'm starving! What's for dinner?" Naruto asked, dragging Sakura through the doors into the palace.

"You don't have to pretend to be someone you're not on my account, guys. I don't mind." Sakura finally caught on, realising what the Uchiha had just said.

"Thank God for that. We honestly don't want to scare you, Sakura. But seriously, what's for dinner?" Naruto repeated.

"Not ramen, that's for sure." Sasuke said.

After dinner Sakura laid down on her bed. There had been seven of them at the table including herself. Naruto had wolfed down his roast pork and even had seconds, while Shikamaru sat quietly. Sasuke and Itachi had bickered a couple of times, but that was to be expected of brothers. Fugaku sat at the head of the table, asking his oldest son about his mission in detail. Sakura felt as though she had become closer to Itachi and Mikoto even though they'd not known each other long. Itachi had inherited his mother's gentle and calming aura. Sakura fell to sleep with a full stomach and a smile on her face.

* * *

"Sasuke-kun, I've missed you so much!" Karin squealed the next day. It was half one in the afternoon, and it was time for one of her visits. Being Sasuke's fiancée she was allocated three hours, four days a week at the palace so that she and the Uchiha could get to know each other. Sasuke just wanted to lock himself up in his room whenever she visited.

Sakura, alarmed by the scream, rushed to the living room to see what the commotion was about. Her mood instantly darkened when she saw the red headed woman hugging a very annoyed looking Uchiha on the sofa.

"Sasuke, we need to sort out the flowers for the ceremony. It needs to be the best wedding anyone has ever been too! Oh, hello Sakura."

"Hello, Karin." Sakura said curtly. Karin picked up a bridal magazine from the coffee table and shuffled even closer to Sasuke so that she was practically on his lap. She shot Sakura a merciless grin, rubbing it in Sakura's face that Sasuke was _hers._ Sakura caught a glance of Karin's fangs and she shivered, remembering the red heads threat. She was determined not to be frightened by the girl.

"We'll leave you two to sort out the flowers. Have fun!" Itachi teased his younger brother, ruffling Sasuke's hair. He sent Itachi a death glare.

"I'm thinking of a pink theme, what do you say Sasuke? Pink flowers, pink table clothes, oh it'll be heavenly!" Karin daydreamed as Sasuke winced. Itachi chuckled under his breath. Sakura felt sorry for the youngest Uchiha.

When they left the room and shut the door, Itachi spoke. "It's so funny to watch my brother get tortured like that, but also kind of sad." He sipped his cup of coffee which he had brought from the living room.

"Are you in an arranged marriage? You're the oldest so does that mean you will one day be Ruler?"

"I was. I'm now married to Miyu, who I love very much. My relationship with her is the opposite of Sasuke and Karin's relationship. I guess I was lucky. She's so kind and thoughtful, you'd like her." Itachi smiled, and Sakura could see how much he loved her. She wished that one day someone would talk about her like that. "She's two months pregnant, our first child together. My mother's ecstatic.

"Traditionally, yes, I would become Ruler, but it differs from you humans. Vampire's live for a very long time, so my father could be on the throne for hundreds of years to come. The only way I'd become Ruler is if he steps down, or dare I say it, is killed."

"Why Karin? If everyone hates her that much then why doesn't Fugaku pair Sasuke up with someone else?" Sakura hoped Sasuke could get out of the marriage somehow, he seemed so unhappy when he was with Karin.

"Don't tell anyone, but I heard that her family is in a bit of a money crisis, so her parents are desperate that she marries my brother. Karin's family are all vampires, which is very rare as vampires aren't normally born, they're turned. Karin was overjoyed when she heard the news; they were both fourteen at the time. Sasuke was furious, he likes his freedom. They have these 'bonding' sessions four times a week but all they ever do is argue." Itachi finished his drink, and then said he had to go back to his place and see how Miyu as getting on.

A couple of minutes later there was a knock on the big wooden front doors. A servant went to answer it, and he led the visitors to the entrance hall. Curious, Sakura made her way to the hall.

"Hinata, Neji! I haven't seen you two in ages." Naruto said, enveloping them both in a big hug. Neji stiffened and Hinata blushed tomato red. Sakura was surprised that the girl was the one who helped her escape from the palace when she was kidnapped.

"Neji?" Sakura made her presence known, shocked to see Tenten's boyfriend in the palace. He couldn't be a vampire too, could he?

"Hey Sakura-chan! This is Hinata Hyuuga." Naruto leaned down and whispered in Sakura's ear, "She's a shapeshifter too." He straightened up again, "And this is Neji Hyuuga, who you obviously recognise. They're cousins."

"Neji is my best friend's boyfriend." Sakura explained. "You are human, right?"

"Yes, I'm human. My father and Hinata's are twin shapeshifters, but my mother was a human whereas Hinata's was a shapeshifter. The human gene is more dominant over the shapeshifter gene, so I'm human." Sakura let out a breath she didn't know she was holding. She was so relieved to hear that, she had no idea what to say to Tenten if Neji had said otherwise. _Hey, Tenten. Your boyfriend can shift into an animal!_ She'd freak.

"Sakura-chan, can I speak to you alone please? There's something I need to say." Hinata asked quietly. Sakura instantly realised that the girl was shy.

"Sure."

Naruto led them out to the palace gardens. It was a nice warm day with hardly any clouds in the sky. Sakura had a hunch that Ino would be sunbathing out in her garden. She waited for the shy girl to speak whatever was on her mind.

"As you know, I'm a shapeshifter." She said. "I shift into a Border C-Collie." Hinata blushed once again, but Sakura couldn't think why. She rattled her brains, but couldn't come up with anything.

"That's nice. I have a Border Collie at home. She has a lovely dark coat and she's called Hina and-" Sakura gasped. She made the connection, realising that Hinata's hair as the exact same colour as her dogs, and their names were identical. _No way. _"You're Hina!" Sakura jumped and hugged Hinata, feeling like she had known the girl for years. In a way, she had.

"You didn't return home that time, and it was getting really late. Your father had gone to bed and I got worried so I followed your scent." Hinata explained softly. "When I was ten you're father was persuaded by my mother to keep me. She had seen you and your father walking around town and recognised you, and thought it would be a good idea to keep an eye on you. She didn't tell anyone though as she knew what the Ruler would do."

"Does my father know who you are?"

"No! No, if he knew he would have to have his memories removed. He wouldn't be trusted to keep the secret."

"You can remove someone's memories?" Sakura asked, shocked.

"Only vampires." If someone had told Sakura a couple of weeks ago that she would be conversing with a shapeshifter and living in a vampire's palace she would have laughed in their face.

"This is all a lot to take in." Sakura rubbed her large forehead.

"Indeed it is." A voice said. Sakura recognised that voice and a shiver travelled down her spine. She spun around to face the shadow of an apple tree. Orochimaru emerged from behind its trunk. He must have gotten Karin's message.

"G-get away from her!" Hinata shouted, stepping in front of Sakura.

"Hinata, no!" Sakura yelled, but it was too late. Hinata transformed into her animal form and Sakura took in a large breath.

"Hina!" She shouted. Hinata pounced at Orochimaru. Her teeth were bared and aimed at his throat. Sakura heard him mutter 'stupid shape shifter' and swatted Hinata aside like a fly. She flew through the air and hit the apple tree. There was a loud bash as flesh hit wood and Hinata was knocked unconscious, back in her human form. Blood was trickling down her forehead from a head wound.

"You monster!" Sakura screamed at the vampire. He seemed amused. "Can't you just leave me alone?"

"Me? A monster? If only you knew who you really are."

"I'm Sakura Haruno, a normal human teenage girl from Konoha, who is in her senior year at Konoha High School, and doesn't need any of this!" She yelled.

"Oh, _really?_" He smirked. Sakura stared at him, breathing hard from her outburst. Who _was_ he? How does he know her? What is going _on_? Would somebody tell her already! "You, Miss Sakura Haruno, used to be like me. And back then, you used to be the most feared, blood-thirsty, ruthless vampire there was. _You_ were the monster."

_No. I won't believe it. Don't believe a word he says._

"I'm the one who made you who you were. You were my most prised possession."_ Shut up._ "But then the Ruler, dear Sasuke's grandfather, killed you." _Shut up! _"And now you're here, one hundred years later. Human."

"Shut up."

Orochimaru froze at Sasuke's deep voice. The Uchiha stood in front of Sakura, using his body to shield Sakura from Orochimaru. The two vampires stared each other down until Orochimaru smirked. Sakura felt a tear roll down her cheek. She hadn't realised she'd been crying.

"Aren't you supposed to be preparing for the wedding, _Sasuke?_ You're fiancée's waiting inside." The snake sneered. Sakura felt a strange wrench in her heart at the mention of the wedding. Then she wondered how Orochimaru could know that Karin was inside, but then vampires have amazing senses. He could probably smell or hear her. How long had he been watching Sakura and Hinata without them realising?

_Hinata…_

She looked over at the dark haired girl who was stirring. Sakura ran over to her and held her in her arms. Hinata moaned and opened her eyes.

"You shouldn't have done that, Hina." Sakura said, the tears falling freely now. Hinata reassured Sakura that she was alright, that shapeshifters healed fast, but Sakura wouldn't believe her until the blood from her forehead had been cleared up. It was hard to believe she was fine when her hair was tinged red.

Sakura heard a noise, like flesh hitting flesh, and looked up. Sasuke had just punched Orochimaru in the jaw, and the older man had fallen to the floor. "Don't go anywhere near her." Sasuke growled. Sakura couldn't decipher whether he was talking about Karin or her.

"I'll do what I please with her; I'm the one who created her after all." Orochimaru looked over at Sakura, smiled threateningly, and vanished. In a flash Sasuke was by her side. The Uchiha was _fast._

"Is it true?" Sakura asked. Hinata had now sat up and was attempting to stand. Sakura stared at her hands which were covered in Hinata's blood. An image flashed through her mind. In the image she was wearing an old fashioned dress with a corset that restricted breathing. In front of her was a middle aged man covered in blood. He just laid there, dead. Her hands were covered in blood, but she knew it wasn't hers. It was his.

"_Well done."_ It was Orochimaru's voice.

Sakura gasped. It was just her imagination. The vision wasn't real. It _couldn't be__._

"I don't know." Sasuke answered her. His hands rested on her shoulders. After her vision she had slumped to her knees. Sakura looked into his eyes, and she could tell that he did. He did know. He knew everything.

* * *

**I tried to update as quick as I could seeing as you guys had to wait so long for the last one ^.^ **

**Please review, it encourages me to write! :)**


	9. Chapter Nine

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.**

* * *

_~Chapter Nine~_

"Are you sure you're alright?" Sakura asked the Hyuuga girl. She stared at Hinata in amazement; the wound at the back of her head had completely healed - a wound that was only inflicted ten minutes ago. The blood had been all wiped off, leaving her looking like nothing had happened.

Just after Sakura had experienced the vision Mikoto and Fugaku ran out of the building. The female Uchiha had tears pouring down her face as she lifted Sakura back onto her feet. Fugaku checked to see if his son was alright.

"You shouldn't be so reckless, Sasuke." The Ruler said.

"What did you expect me to do, watch Orochimaru hurt her?" Sasuke pushed his father's hand off his shoulder, turning his back to him.

"I'm calling an emergency meeting." Fugaku ordered. "Everyone in my office in half an hour. Someone summon Itachi and Tsunade and tell Karin her visiting time is over."

Sasuke decided to go for a walk around the gardens to pass the time before the meeting. Sakura followed him. She wanted to tell him about the vision, but wasn't sure whether she should. He might brand her as some crazy girl who hallucinated. He might even think she was on drugs. But the vision was so real, like it was _her_ who had caused that innocent mans death.

"When's the wedding?" Sakura asked as she approached him. As she waited for his answer she admired the colourful flower borders. They must hire gardeners to keep the massive lawns mowed and the extensive borders and shrubs pruned. She guessed it would take a whole day to tour every corner of the palace and gardens.

"We haven't arranged a date yet. Although our parents want it to happen as soon as possible." Sasuke answered, looking at the ground with his hands deep in his pockets.

"Karin seems to like you a lot." Sasuke winced at her words, but when she didn't say anything else he realised she was expecting an answer.

"What do you want me to say?"

Sakura felt a vein pop on her forehead. "It's called conversation. You know, I say something, then you say something in response, and then I say something else, and so on." Sakura received the infamous Uchiha glare from him, and had to restrain herself from grinning. That glare didn't intimidate her in the slightest.

"The feelings aren't returned."

"Then why are you marrying her?" As soon as the words were out Sakura wished that she could take them back. It wasn't her place to butt in to his business. He could do whatever he liked and she couldn't do a thing to stop him. Her heart yearned for Sasuke to be happy, and Karin obviously wasn't making him cheerful. However, she was listening intently for his answer, as she really wanted to know. She felt as though she was becoming closer with the youngest Uchiha, that she was knocking down the walls he had put up.

"It's my duty as the prince of the supernatural world. It's expected of me to marry one of the most eligible vampires in the kingdom. It's tradition."

"You're marrying her, but you don't love her." Sakura stated. "It sounds a bit off to me."

"I don't have a choice."

"Of course you do, everybody has a choice. Marriage is all about love and committing to each other. To support each other when times get tough, in sickness and in health till death do us part. Not for duty." Sasuke remained silent for the next minute. Sakura watched a squirrel digging a hole so it could bury the acorn laid by its side. She was about to change the subject when he spoke.

"I guess its bad luck that vampires can live forever then. I'll be with Karin for eternity." Sakura was taken aback by the sudden sadness in his eyes. She wanted to hug him badly, to wrap her arms around him and tell him everything works out in the end. However she refrained herself, knowing that the Uchiha wouldn't want her to do that.

"You're immortal?" Sakura asked, shocked. She thought it would be just another myth from fiction novels and horror movies.

"We stop aging when we are around mid twenties or thirties, but made vampires are stuck in the state that they were when they were transformed, whether that be a teenager, a pensioner or a five year old child." He explained.

"So…" Sakura hesitated, not sure whether she wanted to know the answer or not, but then thought to hell with it. "How old are you?"

"Eighteen." Sakura let out a breath, relieved by his answer. He wasn't as old as Tsunade.

"So you never die." Sakura muttered, kicking a stone under her feet under the hedge.

"We can live forever, but we can also die. There are three things that can kill us: wood, claws or teeth of werewolves and shapeshifters, or…" He trailed off.

"Remind me not to stab you with a pencil. What's the third thing?"

He sighed. "A special sword. There is only one of its kind and it used to belong to the most feared vampire before she was killed. It's now in the palace under lock and key. My mother is calling for us to attend the meeting."

"How do you…?" Sakura said, puzzled. They were quite a way from the palace after their walk.

"I can hear her, and I can also hear father complaining about our absence. Let's go."

Of course, Sakura thought, the senses of the vampire are amazing.

* * *

"About time." Fugaku huffed as the two teenagers entered his office. Sakura had imagined a cosy little study with a bookcase and a small desk with a computer, but this room was larger than her living room at home, with sofas and a coffee table, and even a television hanging on the wall. The Ruler's computer desk was in front of the large window overlooking the front gates. He gestured for Sasuke and Sakura to sit on the sofas.

The place was full, even Naruto and Shikamaru were there with Tsunade, Jiraiya, Mikoto, Itachi and a few guards posted beside the door. Sakura noted that Tsunade had colour to her cheeks, and her skin looked healthier than before due to her feed the night before. She glanced over at Sasuke, whose eyes had turned dark underneath and he was starting to look a little pale, paler than what he usually was. He was getting thirsty.

"I have called this meeting due to the fact that Orochimaru managed to get past our top trained guards and into the palace gardens. He attacked Sakura Haruno and Hinata Hyuuga, but then left. There are a few things we need to discuss." Fugaku started. "Firstly, he has made his intentions clear, but we do not know the motivation behind his actions. Secondly, I have heard from outside sources that he is going to start a war if he doesn't get what he wants. Thirdly, I have come to the conclusion that there is a spy in our ranks, and also something very valuable has been stolen from us."

"Hang on, one at a time." Naruto complained, rubbing his forehead. "What has been stolen?"

"The sword. A guard noticed it missing after Orochimaru had left, so I am presuming that he has taken it. It wouldn't surprise me that it was him."

"You mean he has stolen _the _sword?" Itachi asked. He had gone as white as a sheet.

"Yes, _the_ sword." Fugaku glanced over at a confused Sakura. "The glass was smashed and the contents is now gone. No one saw it take place, but the fact that Orochimaru managed to get into the palace brings us onto our next point. We have a spy and I intend to interview every single person in this palace until I find out who it is."

Sakura stiffened, knowing full well who the spy was.

"This palace is guarded twenty four seven by numerous guards, he can't have come in unnoticed unless he has a spy in this palace." Mikoto said.

"I think I know who it is." Fugaku paced up and down the room, and finally stopped in front of Sakura.

"Wait, you think the spy is _me?_" Sakura gasped.

"Don't be ridiculous, father." Itachi said.

"Ridiculous? Everything was fine until she came along. She is Sakura Haruno; I wouldn't put it past her."

"I thought we were past all of this. Have you not realised by now that she cannot remember anything? Why would she want Orochimaru to kidnap her and turn her into a vampire? That is what he wants, so why would Sakura aid him in doing so?" Sasuke stood up, facing his father head on. "She is on our side. I know her well enough to figure that out."

"The spy is Karin Taka." Sakura whispered, but she knew the people in the room would hear her. Before any of them could say anything she relayed what Karin had said to her. "And the motivation behind Orochimaru's actions is that he wants the throne, and somehow I can aid him in that."

"Why did you not tell us this sooner, sweetie?" Mikoto asked, placing a hand on Sakura's arm.

"She cornered me in the kitchen and threatened to rip my throat out if I ever told anyone."

"We won't let that happen, the bitch." Naruto said, slamming his fist onto the coffee table.

"Your word does not prove that she is the spy, but she will be a suspect. Her visits will be suspended and I will have guards watch her every move. The last thing we need to talk about it that Orochimaru will most definitely start a war, but when we do not know. He will need to build his army up, which involves making newborn vampires and recruiting rogue supernaturals. I have sent out some soldiers to find his hideout as it can't be too far away if he keeps showing up in these parts. If any of you find any newborns I want you to take them to the cells for questioning. This meeting is over." Fugaku turned and looked out the window, waiting for everyone to leave.

"Wait!" Sakura stood. "After Orochimaru attacked me I had a vision. There was a man who had been killed, and in the vision it was me who had killed him. I had his blood all over my hands. And Orochimaru was there, congratulating me. It seemed so real…"

The Ruler spun around to look at her, and all eyes were on the pink haired girl.

"Sakura, there is something you should know." Mikoto said. "There is no right time to tell you this but with Orochimaru on the lose you need to know. You had a past life."

"W-what?" Sakura stuttered.

"In your past life you were… an ally of Orochimaru. And he wants you back on his side. Maybe he thinks that if you are on his side he will be able to take the throne."

"How could I aid him in obtaining the throne? I'm just _me_, I'm nothing special." She was disgusted by the fact that she was on Orochimaru's side before, what would have made her do such a thing?

"We will protect you with our lives, Sakura. We won't let him have you." Tsunade said. Sakura was touched that someone who she had only just met was offering to sacrifice her life to save her. She was hoping it wouldn't come down to that.

"But why does he want me? He has plenty of allies, what is so important about me that he will go out of his way to change me into a vampire?"

"That is enough!" The Ruler shouted. "Everyone, out of my office."

"You're just scared." Sasuke accused, pausing at the door after everyone else had left bar Jiraiya. "You have no idea what she'll do if she remembers. You're scared that she'll ruin the perfectly sculptured kingdom from the inside."

"She's already got you wrapped around her little finger. I thought better of you, Sasuke."

"She is not who you think she is. Not anymore." Sasuke shut the door to his father's office and found Itachi and Sakura waiting for him.

"I have to agree with you on this, little brother." Itachi wrapped an arm around Sasuke's shoulders. "Father is scared." He walked off, answering a call on his mobile.

"Thanks for sticking up for me in there." Sakura said to Sasuke, referring to when Fugaku accused her of spying. "I appreciate it. And I am not manipulating anyone, I assure you."

"You should have told me about Karin."

"Sasuke-kun! There you are." Karin leapt on Sasuke's back, nearly knocking him to the floor.

"Father sent you home." Sasuke said, extremely annoyed. "You shouldn't be here."

"I couldn't leave without saying goodbye to _my_ Sasuke-kun." Karin smirked at Sakura, once again rubbing it in her face that Sasuke was _hers_, even though he wasn't an object to be owned. But Sakura was satisfied that the red headed girl's cover was broken.

"I better go." Sakura said. Refusing to acknowledge the Taka girl, she walked off.

"Sakura wait! Karin, get off me." Sasuke said, but Sakura had already gone.

* * *

"Sir, even if she does know about her past, she can't do anything. She's human, her strength and senses are inferior to ours. Even one of us could easily overpower her." Jiraiya said, his hand resting on the Ruler's office door handle.

"She's human now, yes. However if she finds out who she used to be she could seek out Orochimaru, and then she would be a vampire. A very dangerous vampire, more dangerous than Orochimaru himself. I cannot let that happen and put my family and kingdom at risk."

"Remember what your father said that fateful day. He said that she would bring good to this land and your family. You don't have to fear her, Sir."

"That could be a load of bull, Jiraiya. My father liked to play games."

"He was most likely telling us that we should accept her when she returned as a human, and not shun her. He may have liked to play games, but Kaito Uchiha was not one to endanger the people he loved."

* * *

Sakura decided to visit her father after the events of that day. She was missing her normal life back at home. She had a key in her pocket, but thought it would be better if she didn't just barge in unannounced. It had been a few days since she had seen Ichirou, and it had taken a few heated discussions between herself and Fugaku in order for her to be allowed to visit him. Fugaku was convinced that it wasn't safe, that Orochimaru could be anywhere and could ambush her again. The compromise was that Jiraiya and Tsunade were to escort her, but she made it so that they dropped her off around the corner from her house. She knew they were lurking somewhere in the shadows, and it was sort of comforting to know that they were there, but she wanted to be alone with her father, like old times.

The door swung open and her father stood there with a steaming cup of coffee in his hands. He looked surprised to see her. "I thought there was an emergency and you were staying at a friend's house for a couple of weeks." He said, opening the door wider so she could step inside.

"I am, I just wanted to see you." She couldn't stay long. Fugaku had said that if she wasn't back at the palace in two hours then he would come himself and drag her back, which would be hard to explain to Ichirou.

"Would you like a drink? There's a visitor in the living room." He said, already boiling the kettle before hearing Sakura's answer.

"I won't stay long then." She said, disappointed that her visit may be cut even shorter.

"He's come to see you, actually. I told him you weren't in but he's just having a drink and then he said he'd be off. But now you're here…" He trailed off as he searched for Sakura's pink mug with a picture of Minnie Mouse which she always used. It was her favourite which she had bought from Disneyland Paris when she was nine.

"Oh?" Sakura thought over who this person could be. It couldn't be Ino or Tenten as Ichirou had specifically said _he._ She had ringed the girls up before she came, spewing out a ton of lies to keep them satisfied. She hated lying to them, but there was nothing else she could do. She didn't want them wrapped up in the supernatural world.

She walked into the living room, not wanting to keep her guest waiting any longer.

"Hello." He got up off the sofa and held out his hand to her. "My name is Kabuto." The man looked to be in his mid-twenties, and had silver hair tied up in a pony tail, his dark eyes behind a pair of plain glasses.

"Sakura." She replied out of habit, shaking his outstretched hand. Of course he knew her name, he was there to see her.

"I know. We used to know each other a while ago." He smiled.

"We did?" She asked, confused. She hadn't seen him before in her life, and she would remember a face like his.

"It was a very long time ago. I just thought I'd drop by to say hi and to see if you're ok."

"I'm fine." She said, bewildered. The man took a last sip out of his mug and was on his way without another word. Ichirou came into the room with Sakura's tea.

"He didn't stay long. What did he say?" Her father asked.

"He just came round to see if I was ok. We knew each other a while ago." Sakura said, deciding not to tell him that in fact she had never met the man. Who was he? Maybe they knew each other in her past life, which would explain why she didn't remember him.

"So, what have you been up to?" Sakura asked, listening to father's stories.

* * *

**Sorry for such a long wait! My laptop has been playing up lately, but I should be getting a new one in the next couple of weeks. There is a lot of talking in this chapter haha. **

**Don't forget to review! :)  
**


	10. Chapter Ten

**_Disclaimer - I do not own Naruto_**

* * *

_~Chapter Ten~_

Naruto decided that they all needed a night off, a couple of hours away from the palace and from constant reminders of Orochimaru and his plans. He suggested that they went to a Ramen bar for their evening meal, so that is where they all ended up. Fugaku had allowed Ino, Hinata and Tenten to meet them there. Sakura couldn't wait to see her best friends, it would enable her to feel like her life was back to normal, and nothing unusual had ever happened.

It was Itachi's night off from hunting rogue supernaturals, so he accompanied Sasuke, Shikamaru, Naruto and Sakura to Ichiraku's. It was a quiet night as they walked down the streets of Konoha. Hardly anyone was around, but those who were would look at the two vampires and two shapeshifters and think that they were just normal human beings. However, their natural beauty set them apart from others. Seriously, the four of them could be part time models. Sakura felt a little self-conscious walking with them, knowing her beauty didn't match up to theirs.

"Forehead! We've missed you _so_ much!" Ino squealed as they reached the Ramen bar. Sasuke took a step back as the blonde jumped on Sakura, nearly knocking them both to the ground. Hinata blushed when she saw Naruto, and Sakura realised that the pale eyed girl had a crush on the knuckleheaded shifter. It was also pretty obvious that Ino still liked Shikamaru as the loud female gave him a big smile. Sakura could do some matchmaking tonight…

After the meal they all walked around Konoha, making the most of the fresh air. Sakura was enjoying the freedom from the palace. She had a lot of catching up to do with Ino and Tenten, she wanted to know every detail of their life from since she left school.

"That Inuzuka set the fire alarms off yesterday, everyone –" Ino abruptly stopped talking mid-sentence, staring at a dark figure ahead. The silhouette was hunched, one arm leaning on a tree trunk for support. He looked to be in a lot of pain. As the group got closer, Sakura recognised the figure.

"T-Tenten." Neji groaned, staggering forward a couple of steps. The brunette girl rushed forward without thinking, gathering his weak form in her arms.

"Neji, what's wrong? Why are you covered in blood? _Neji!_" Tenten cried, trying to get an answer out of her boyfriend. However, he refused to answer as he stared at her neck like he was in a trance.

"Tenten-san!" Naruto called, realising what had happened to Neji. Hinata stood in shock with her hands to her 'o' shaped mouth as she watched her cousin sink his teeth into Tenten's throat. The girl froze for a second, and then started flailing her limbs around, struggling to be free of Neji's iron grip.

Sasuke, Naruto and Itachi bolted towards the couple. It took both of the vampires to pull Neji off her, and Naruto immediately checked Tenten's wound. Her cheeks were stained with tears as she stared at her boyfriend being manhandled by strangers. She attempted to tell them not to hurt him, but her voice wouldn't obey her.

"But Neji's not a vampire!" Sakura exclaimed, rushing toward her friend. "He said he was human!"

"He was. Orochimaru has started recruiting." Shikamaru said, wrapping a comforting arm around Ino's shoulders. "He really is going to start a war. He's made the Hyuuga into a newborn."

Tenten suddenly collapsed in Naruto's arms. He managed to catch her before she crumpled on the hard floor. It was safe to say that Ino and Tenten couldn't be shielded from the supernatural world anymore.

"Is she alright?" Sasuke asked, appearing next to Sakura.

"Apart from the obvious? I think she'll be fine." Naruto said, ripping off one of his sleeves and wrapping it around the unconscious girl's injury.

Sakura glanced over at Neji and Itachi. The older Uchiha had his wrist to the newborns mouth, and Sakura remembered that Orochimaru had done the exact same thing to her in the alleyway.

"Newly created vampires go into bloodlust." Sasuke explained. "The only way to stop them is to feed them another vampire's blood. We don't give it away lightly."

Itachi pulled his hand away from Neji, who looked around dazed for a few seconds until his gaze fell on Tenten who was still out cold. He walked over tentatively, unsure how close he would be allowed to his girlfriend.

"I'm so sorry. Ten, I couldn't stop, I…" He trailed off, lost for words. How could he ever make it up to her? He was disgusted with himself.

Itachi had followed the Hyuuga, and he placed the palm of his hand against Tenten's forehead.

"What are you doing?" Sakura asked, having a good idea what the answer was.

"Erasing her memories." He said simply like he did it every day, which he probably did. "Sasuke, take care of Ino-san." At the mention of her name, Ino's eyes widened and she shook her head.

"No. I won't let you." Sakura said, trying to figure out a way to stop the Uchiha brothers.

"Sakura, they know about our world. The rules state that-"

"I don't care about your stupid rules! These are my friends, and they deserve to know what has happened tonight. Tenten needs to know about Neji's circumstances, and Ino clearly doesn't want her memories taken away." Sakura said, gesturing to the blonde who nodded in agreement. "I know the feeling of not being able to recall anything from the past, and it's horrible! I don't want that to happen to these two."

Itachi slowly removed his hand from the rousing girl's head. She quietly moaned while she sat upright, putting a hand against her neck. Neji went to put a hand on her arm, but thought otherwise, not sure whether the gesture would be appreciated.

"Ten, I-" Neji started, but was cut off by a fist to his jaw. The newborn didn't feel any physical pain, but he was hurt by the fact that Tenten had punched him.

"Don't you ever do that to me again, baka!" Tenten shouted, cradling the hand she had used. She then engulfed him in a hug, not wanting to let him go.

"I am really sorry Tenten. I promise I won't. I've got my mind back now." He turned to face Sakura. "I know who you are. Orochimaru told me everything. He tried to persuade me to join him, but I refused so he left me out on the streets. He really does want the throne."

"We will need to hold you in a cell and interrogate you until we know you can be trusted." Itachi said. "Sorry, it's protocol."

Neji didn't seem fazed by Itachi's words, he expected to be taken back to the palace to be questioned. He would tell them everything he knew. "You're the only one who can stop him, Haruno-san. That's why he wanted you on his side."

"How can I stop him?" Before Neji could answer, Sasuke unexpectedly grabbed her arm and dragged her away without an explanation.

"We need to go." He said. The last she saw of her friends was Neji holding Tenten, repeating to her how sorry he was while running his fingers through her hair. Naruto and Shikamaru were comforting Ino, and Itachi was placing wooden handcuffs on the newborn with an apologetic look on his face. The night's events had finally hit Ino, and she was wetting Shikamaru's shoulder with her tears. He would soon have to explain to her that he wasn't human.

Sasuke led her to the palace and up the grand staircase. Mikoto was showing a couple of guests the artwork and weapons in the entrance hall. "Sakura, sweetie? Sasuke?" Neither of them answered. The Uchiha was on a mission and nothing was going to distract him. He still held on to Sakura's arm, leading her into his room. Every step he took Sakura had to take two, nearly jogging to keep up.

She had never seen the younger Uchiha's bedroom before. There was a four poster bed against the far wall with deep red covers. His possessions were spread out on a large desk opposite a door which she presumed led to the bathroom. It was extremely tidy, but then again royalty had maids and servants to do the dirty work.

"What's wrong?" Sakura asked him as he sat her down on the bed.

"Neji is right. You are the only one who can stop Orochimaru." He sat down next to her. "You need to remember, Sak. It's about time you knew your past." Sakura couldn't stop the flow of blood to her cheeks after he gave her a nickname.

"Sasuke, I know I've been complaining that everyone knows who I am apart from me, but I don't know if I want to know. Mikoto said I was an ally of Orochimaru, if I regain my memories I might go back to him, and I don't want to. And how can memories stop Orochimaru?"

"You haven't been told the whole story. That vision you had, it was a memory from your past." So she had killed an innocent man. How many other people had she slaughtered? "Two hundred and seventy five years ago Orochimaru made you a vampire. My grandfather killed you in eighteen ninety four, and then you were born again, human."

Sakura sat in silence. She had been a _vampire?_ Why was she only being told this _now_?

"My grandfather was developing a potion to bring back the dead, but he only had one vial. He used that on you, but no one knows why. Before that he wanted you dead, but then he brought you back by sacrificing his own life."

"W-why did he want me dead?" She asked.

"You were the most feared and ruthless vampire to date. You were Orochimaru's favourite possession. He has been after the throne for centuries, but he had given up. Now you're back, he's wanting you back on his side. He wants you because you're the only one strong enough to kill him."

"I don't want to remember. If I murdered lots of people, if I worked for Orochimaru, I _don't want to remember!_" She shouted. "I like it here, I like my life. I don't want anything to ruin it."

"Sakura."

"No, Sasuke! I don't want to know all the things I used to get up to, that's if you're even telling the truth. According to everyone I used to be a monster. Orochimaru himself called me a monster, and look at him!" She stood up and faced the Uchiha prince, tears streaming down her face. "I can't do it! What if I turn into the person I used to be? What if I start killing innocent people again? I don't want to fight against you guys! I'll go insane just remembering everything that I've done. I don't want to turn into that monster again, Sasuke. I don't want – hngf?"

Sasuke had stood up in a blur and pressed his lips to hers, getting annoying with waiting for her to finish her rant. He could taste her salty tears on his lips. He broke away as quickly as he started, resting his forehead against hers.

"You won't go back to the person you once were unless you want to, you are stronger than that. Besides, I won't let you." He smirked. "When Orochimaru turned you he brainwashed you, and you followed everything that he told you to do. You didn't know any different. And for the record, Orochimaru isn't the best at judging characters." He rubbed his nose down the length of hers. She rested her head on his broad shoulders, savouring the closeness of their bodies. She was still crying, but the sobs were slowing.

A niggling feeling at the back of her mind told Sakura that something was wrong. They shouldn't be doing this. He shouldn't be holding her in his arms.

"Karin!" Sakura jumped out of Sasuke's hold. "No, no, no! Sasuke you shouldn't have done that!" She paced the room. "You're engaged. You're getting _married!_"

"Didn't you tell me that marriage was all about love? When you said that to me it made me open my eyes. Yes, I'm the prince and I have a duty to my kingdom, but I don't have to be miserable. I don't feel that way about her I never have and I never will. Besides, if Karin really is the spy then the wedding will be off. Even if she isn't _I'm_ calling it off. Sakura, please listen to me." He grabbed her pacing form and turned her chin so that she was looking at him.

"But you're father…"

"My father needs to realise I'm not an object that he can do whatever he wants with. All he wants is what's best for his kingdom. He doesn't stop and think about the happiness of his family. I was five when the engagement was first announced, and I didn't care about marriage and all that stuff. But now I've realised that I don't want to be stuck with Karin for all eternity. You made me realise that."

"I'm not going to live for eternity." Sakura said softly, touched by his speech. "I'm human. I may not have been in the past, but I am _now_."

"You don't have to be." Sasuke stated. "Back to the matter before, there's only one way to regain your memories, and that is to return to the state you were when you lost them." She understood what he meant. To recall her locked away memories, she needed to become a vampire.

"But…"

"I'll be there when you wake up, I promise. They are only memories, Sak. Whose side you are on is _your _decision. You've had a human upbringing, you have a human conscience. The memories you have now are not going to fade."

"I'm…" Sakura felt embarrassed by speaking her fear in front of him. He didn't seem to be afraid of anything. "I'm scared. Orochimaru tried to make me into a vampire and it _hurt_. I thought I was going to die."

"I won't hurt you." He whispered in her ear. She took a deep breath as his eyes turned blood red and his fangs sunk into her neck.

* * *

Sasuke laid her down on the bed. He knew she wouldn't be completely unconscious as his blood ran through her veins, transforming her body into a faster, stronger, immortal version. Her face was twisted in pain, and it killed him not being able to do anything about it.

After listening to Neji, he decided that the pink haired girl needed to know who she was. People were getting hurt, _she_ was getting hurt. It was about time she was in control of her own life, and if she decided to join Orochimaru once again then that was her decision. He didn't want her too, for the kingdom's sake and for his own, but it was her choice. They would just have to deal with the three possible scenarios that would result.

Either she would join Orochimaru and fight against him for the throne, or she would stay and fight for the Ruler. The last option was that she would do nothing at all, not chose a side and just disappear to do her own thing. He desperately wanted her to do the second and he would try to stop her making the wrong choice, but no matter the result it would be _her _decision, not his or his fathers. Those memories were a part of her, it should be a crime to keep them away from her.

He bent down and kissed her forehead, knowing full well that when Fugaku found out he would blow a fuse. But there was nothing the Ruler could do, the deed was done. Sakura was turning into a vampire. Or rather, turning _back_ into a vampire. She would gain her past memories, but she would also retain her current ones. Which side she would chose, Sasuke didn't know.

A knock alerted him to the presence of a maid. By the faint whiff he got of her though the crack under the door, he knew it was Ami Yagami, one of his personal maids who cleaned his room. He opened the door to shoo her away, but she immediately looked over his shoulder to see Sakura laid on his bed, her small fists gripping the duvet covers. She glanced over at the Uchiha's hand which was resting on the door and noticed the small scar that was rapidly fading on his wrist where he had cut himself. Being a vampire herself, Ami recognised the signs.

She screamed for Sasuke's father, dropping the clean bed linen that was in her hands. In three seconds Fugaku appeared at the door and Ami pointed inside the room, speechless.

Sasuke was in so much trouble.

* * *

**Gosh, it's been a while! Sorry for the late update, I had to wait to get Office on my new laptop. The next chapter should be up either tomorrow or Sunday.**

**I received my A level results last Thursday and I got AAB! I'm off to University in September!**

**Don't forget to review!**


	11. Chapter Eleven Part One

_**Disclaimer - I do not own Naruto**_

* * *

_~Chapter Eleven: Part One~_

_**1738**_

Sakura was lying in bed, the plain white covers damp from her recent sweating fit. Her cherry pink hair was stuck to her face, clinging to her forehead and her cheeks were stained red from her fever. She wanted to look in a mirror; she didn't particularly want to see how awful she looked, but she hadn't seen her reflection in so long that she thought she wouldn't recognise herself.

She was ten years old when she came down with the terrible illness which was a mystery to the doctors. Eight years on and the professionals were still baffled. They had run countless tests throughout the years, but she had recently started to refuse them. What was the point? If they couldn't find a cure in eight years, what makes them think that would change?

"She's right this way, Sir. The last door on the right." Sakura's mother's voice sounded through the thin walls of the house. How much Sakura longed for her to walk into her room with a smile on her face and hold her in her arms. However the doctors advised against any physical contact as her disease could be contagious. That news led her parents to lock her away in her room. At first she protested, but now she was weak and bedridden. She knew that whatever disease she had was killing her, she just wished the doctors would be straight with her and tell her themselves.

The one thing she missed most was playing with her little brother, Kai. They used to kick a ball around the spacious garden, ignoring her mother's protests that it wasn't 'ladylike'. She used to chase him around the flower borders playing tag, or they played hide and seek. She chuckled at the antics that they used to get up to as children, but it turned into a coughing fit. When Sakura was struck down with the illness Kai was forbidden to see her, her parents were scared that she might pass on whatever she had to him. Of course, he had sneaked into her room at least once a day until he got caught by one of the doctors. Now he visited whenever he could, but not nearly as often as he used to. Sakura sighed, he would be fifteen now, nearly a man.

The door creaked open and green eyes rested on a tall man. He had long straight black hair and his eyes were a curious yellow. She had never seen eyes like it. His skin was deathly pale, the same shade as hers. Somehow she doubted that his skin colour was down to his health. The corners of his mouth lifted up into a smile. No one had smiled at her for a long time.

"Miss Haruno Sakura, am I right?" He asked, standing over her. He didn't bother to sit down on the wooden stool next to her bed like everybody else did.

"Who are you? If you're another doctor I'm not interested. I don't want any more tests. I know I'm dying." She said weakly. Her croaky voice was quiet but the man seemed to hear her just fine. Her lifelong ambition was to become a doctor despite the fact that women weren't allowed to enter the profession. When they first started visiting her she admired their position in society, but now they were just annoying. One left about fifteen minutes ago, and she wanted some peace and quiet before the next one came.

"I have come to make you better, but I am not a doctor, young one. Between you and me, I have a very special cure, but it will have to be our little secret."

"There is no cure for this. Doctors have been trying for years, they can't even get a diagnosis." Sakura said, glaring at the man as he picked up the handkerchief from the bedside table and wiped the sweat from her forehead.

"Your parents keep you locked up in here, do they not? It's such a sunny day outside, don't you want to have a look?"

"I can't," She said, although it was one of the things that she dreamt of doing. "I'm stuck here." She could twitch a finger, wriggle a toe, blink, but anything much more than that was a lot of effort. Her muscles had wasted away, causing her to lay in bed all day and all night.

"Nothing is impossible." The man said, lifting her torso so that she was sitting upright.

"What about flying like the birds? That's impossible in everybody's book. Hey!" She yelped as he picked up her skinny form, "Mother will murder me if she sees me out of bed! We'll get in trouble."

"Your mother is in the front garden listening to your neighbour moan about his grandson." He walked over to the window, pulling the curtains wider so that their view wasn't obstructed.

"How do you know?" Sakura said, mystified.

"The cure does some extraordinary things to you. Don't worry, you're safe with me. Look." He gestured with his head towards the window, wanting her to look outside. The sun was shining bright and birds were flying around the blooming garden. Bees were pollinating the colourful flowers, keeping out of the way of Kai scoring a goal against her father. Sakura would have given anything to be able to run downstairs and skip into the garden, to feel the light breeze in her pink locks and the grass in between her toes.

"Isn't it beautiful? You could have this, you know. You could be free to roam anywhere you wish. Let me give you the cure." He sat down on the rocking chair beside the window, Sakura still in his arms. He supported her back so that she could still see outside.

"I wish Mother and Father would do this for me every now and again." She sighed.

"Instead they lock you away like a prisoner, a burden." At his words Sakura looked away from her laughing brother and father and cast her eyes downwards. She had always thought she was a burden on her family, but now that he said it, she _was_ a prisoner. They were holding her captive inside her tiny room. They could carry her downstairs and let her lie on the sofa so that she could be around her family more, but instead they kept her shut up like they were ashamed. _Out of sight, out of mind._ "They only check on you to see if you're alive. It would be easier for them if you left them forever. Come with me, and the world will bow down to you."

"Where will I have to go? How do you know this cure works?" Sakura inquired, becoming interested in the man's offer. She was shocked at the anger bubbling up towards her family, at them keeping her prisoner.

"The cure will get rid of any illness and disease. It will make you stronger than ever before. You will notice a few differences but they are positive changes. I have had it myself. There is a place far away from here. You will have a new life, a new start. Come with me and live your life with me. I will teach you everything you need to know. There are whole forests for you to explore, wolves to play with." He grinned, showing his teeth. If Sakura wasn't so weak she would have noticed the man's pointed canines.

"Aren't wolves dangerous?"

"Nothing would be dangerous to you if you come with me. You would never get sick again."

"Not even a cold?"

"Not even a cold." He chuckled.

This would be a life changing opportunity. She would no longer be a prisoner, her family would be free of a burden, and she would be free of the disease that had weakened her body. "What do I have to do?"

* * *

Sakura gasped as the first memory of many flooded her brain. She opened her eyes, and even though she was covered in darkness she was able to see as clear as if she was under the sun's rays. She recognised the cell she was thrown in before she knew of the supernatural world. Before her mind could process anything else, she overcome with pain.

* * *

As soon as Sakura opened her eyes to reveal blood red orbs her hand flew up to her throat. It was burning like she hadn't consumed liquid in days. She was laid on her back staring at the rocky ceiling of a cave. "I'm thirsty." She said, not expecting anyone to answer her. She thought about a big glass of water, but somehow that didn't seem satisfactory to her.

"I'm not surprised. Here, drink this. We don't want you going insane now, do we?" The man who had bit her (who she had forgotten all about till now) cut open his wrist with his teeth and placed the bleeding limb to her mouth. She didn't register what was happening, all her thoughts were focused on the red life line dripping from the wound. It tasted wonderful, better than anything she had ever had before. It soothed the fire in her throat and cleared her mind.

"Where are we?" The pink haired newborn asked after the man had pulled his hand away. She had whimpered in protest, but the vampire just chuckled. "I don't even know your name."

"My name is Orochimaru, and I am a vampire, like you." He noticed her eyes fixated on his flask beside him. Her orbs were still deep red, and he knew they wouldn't return to their original colour until she was at least a month old. "You are in the grounds of my mansion, which is just south of here. I thought it would be safer to bring you here, as I have human servants in my house."

Sakura looked confused for a minute. Why would it be safer here than around humans? She was a vampire now, nothing could hurt her. However when she pictured a human in her mind, she realised what Orochimaru had meant. Humans were her prey now.

"Your mind will be slow for a few days while your body becomes adjusted to its new form. It will be hard for you to resist human blood until you are mature." The newborn's eyes flickered to the flask again. Orochimaru picked it up and shook it, amused at how Sakura's eyes followed its every movement. "This blood is mine. You need to get your own. A word of advice: you are a lot stronger than what you used to be. I suggest that while you hunt you try out your own strength, get used to it. I don't want any accidents."

She was more than a lot stronger. She was faster and her senses were enhanced. She could see an ant crawling across the leaf matter outside the cave. She could smell the blood that was in the flask in Orochimaru's hands. His blood hadn't satisfied her, only cured her quick descend into insanity. As soon as she caught the scent of the red liquid the fire in her throat started once again.

"What about my parents? Can I see them?"

"No! You cannot see them, Sakura. They locked you away, do you not remember? Do you think that if they truly loved you they would do that? You are a vampire now. Besides, they think you are dead. Your funeral was yesterday. The change took five days, your body really was weak."

Sakura growled at the last sentence. It wasn't her fault that a disease had riddled her body. But now she was the complete opposite of weak.

"Easy," He warned. "Aim your anger at the humans, Sakura. They are the ones that kept you bedridden. Not me. Humans are selfish, greedy, prideful beings. I chose you because I thought you would understand."

She opened her mouth to say something, then closed it again. She repeated the action several times until she whispered, "I understand."

"Good. Now that's settled you need to learn to hunt, and learn fast. I am not a patient man."

* * *

Sakura rubbed her temples as her head exploded with pain and memories. She tried to suppress her scream, consequently coming out as a whimper. So she really had been Orochimaru's ally, his right hand vampire. She struggled onto her hands and knees. She was Sakura Haruno, the most feared and powerful vampire in history.

* * *

**As promised, here is the next chapter. I've split it into two parts as it was a little long. ^_^ **

**Next chapter either tomorrow or Tuesday :)**

**Don't forget to review!**


	12. Chapter Eleven Part Two

**_Disclaimer - I do not own Naruto_**

* * *

_~Chapter Eleven: Part Two~_

"Do it Sakura, now is your chance." Orochimaru said. The two of them had been tailing a man for half an hour while he shopped for groceries. He was now walking home and had turned into an alleyway to cut his route short.

The two vampires were sat on a rooftop overlooking the alleyway, waiting for the man to walk underneath them. The street was pitch black, street lights hadn't been invented yet. Despite the lack of light, Sakura could see the man as if it was daytime. She had been a vampire for six months, too old to be classed as a newborn.

Orochimaru wanted the man dead. He wouldn't give Sakura a reason, and she suspected that there wasn't one. This was a test, to prove her loyalty to him. If she could kill this man without any hesitation, Orochimaru would give her free reign. He had been watching over her for months, giving her tasks to do, teaching her everything that she needed to know. He always kept her within his reach, not once letting her out of his sights. Newborns were unpredictable, but she wasn't a newborn any more. If she could do this one little task, she would be fully trusted by her creator. She wanted to please him, he gave her a second chance of life after all. The bond between the vampire and its creator was unbreakable.

When the man was six feet away Sakura pounced, dropping from the rooftop right in front of the middle aged man. She grinned, showing her sharp canine teeth. The man dropped his shopping bags, bottles clanging against each other. One glass bottle containing a brown liquid spilt everywhere, the contents spreading out across the dirt path. Sakura's step faltered, did this man have a family? Were they waiting at home for him to bring home some food for them to eat? But then it didn't matter. He was human. A pathetic little human.

He was dead before he could scream.

* * *

Present day Sakura cried out at the memory. How could she have done such a thing to murder an innocent man in cold blood? She felt sick to her stomach. Even with all these memories coming back to her, she would never fight on Orochimaru's side. He was the monster. He had brainwashed her into hating humans, but now she knew better.

She stood up to test her balance, her arm against the wall just in case her legs were unsteady. However her legs were just fine, strong enough to support her if she had to lift a large tree trunk.

She walked over to the cell bars, making no noise at all. She wasn't a fumbling human any more. Shouldn't she be going insane right about now? Every newborn went into bloodlust without consuming vampire blood. But then, she thought, she wasn't a newborn. Not really.

She peered through the bars. Nobody was about, but she could smell several scents that belong to different people. Sasuke, Fugaku, Neji, Jiraiya and Naruto had all been down there recently. She guessed that Neji was locked up in a cell somewhere, or had they already interrogated him and determined that he was on their side? She must have been trapped in the cell for at least three or four days. Would they interrogate her?

Who had put her in there? She didn't think Sasuke had, he wouldn't keep her prisoner. She had a pretty good idea that the Ruler had placed her there. Was it possible that he was scared of her now that she was a vampire again?

Sasuke said he would be there when she woke up, so where was he? Was something going off in the palace that she didn't know about? She felt something brush her right elbow. She moved her left hand to see what it was, and she felt silky smooth hair under her fingertips. Her hair had grown almost down to her waist, slightly longer than the length she used to wear it when she was twelve. It was the same length she wore it when she was a vampire before. She had returned to the state she was when she was killed by Sasuke's grandfather.

* * *

**1775**

"What are you doing here?" Sakura asked her creator who was crouched down on the floor with a piece of metal in his hands. He was engraving something into it.

"This is your new weapon." He explained, twisting the scorching hot metal in his grasp, admiring it. Of course the heat didn't bother him.

"I don't need any weapons. All I need is my teeth." She crossed her arms over her chest. Humans were easy to kill, a weapon would just hinder her.

"Don't be so ignorant, Sakura. There are others like us out there. Others that want us dead. You will need an advantage over them if you ever come across them." He stood up to face her, the sword clutched in his hands. "This sword has an oak core and oak fused into the metal. It will slice through anything you desire it too, even vampire flesh. Take care of it."

He handed Sakura the katana and she held it out in front of her. She liked the balance of it, the hilt was the perfect size for her hand. Orochimaru had carved her name into the metal, claiming the weapon as hers.

She tried it out, jabbing the still hot metal left and right, swinging it in an arc, and then pointing it at Orochimaru's throat.

"You're a natural," He pushed the tip of the sword aside, unfazed. How strong could she become with the katana in her possession? A katana that could kill a vampire, werewolf or shapeshifter with just a single swipe?

They spared against each other for the next few hours, Sakura with her katana and Orochimaru wielding a kusanagi which he stole from a swordsmith. She nicked him a couple of times, but the wounds weren't deep so he healed almost straight away. She as a quick learner, soon getting the hang of her new toy.

* * *

"Sasuke? Itachi? Naruto?" Sakura whispered. Her voice was hoarse; she was so thirsty. "Mikoto? Shikamaru? Anybody?" The only noise she could hear was her echo. The cells must be soundproof as she couldn't hear anything, even with her super senses.

She sunk to the floor and cradled her head, wishing that the memories would stop coming.

* * *

_**1894**_

Kaito applied pressure onto the stake, digging it in Sakura's throat. A trickle of blood dribbled down her neck, but no more pressure was added. The Ruler had his head in his free hand, and his eyes were closed in deep concentration, eyebrows furrowed. This was Sakura's chance to strike. Her katana was too far away as she had lost her grip on it when she fell. She could have punched his face but she risked him pushing the stake in deeper. Kaito then opened his eyes and stared at Sakura in astonishment.

"That was interesting." He said.

"What was?" Sakura asked. Kaito removed the stake from her throat and plunged it deep into her side, making her scream in agony. She instantly lost control of her body as it wouldn't respond. She gritted her teeth.

"What have… you done to… me?" She could hardly speak through the pain of her newly inflicted wound. Was the stake covered in some kind of poison? Maybe it hadn't shown any effects when it nicked her throat because not enough of it was in her system, but now that the stake was embedded deep in her side, a high concentration was in her blood stream.

"I am going to kill you, but I want to tell you this. I had a vision. It seems in the future you will bring good to this land and my family."

"As if I'd do that." She scoffed, but then erupted into a coughing fit, drawing up blood. "I thought you said you were going to kill me."

"I carry out what I say, but I'm going to sacrifice my own life to help my people." Why in the future would she ever help him and his men who hunted her down every day of the year?

He dived into his pocket, producing a vial of green liquid. He took a swig, swallowing half of the solution. "This is a little concoction I made." He explained, wiping his mouth on his sleeve. "Only this little vial exists. I was hoping to make more, but under the circumstances…" He trailed off as he slumped to the floor, choking. His eyes were wild when he looked up at her, crawling over and forced the remainder of the liquid down her throat. It tasted like acid. "We will both die tonight, but you will wake up, human."

"You're going to make me _vermin_?" Sakura spluttered. "When I wake up I will hunt you and your family down and _wipe you out_!"

"But you won't remember anything that happened in this life. Goodbye Sakura Haruno." With the last of his strength he plunged the stake into her racing heart. He slumped to the floor as his own heart slowed and eventually stopped. _A life for a life._ Sakura's world instantly went black, a single tear rolled down her cheek. The last thing she heard was the calming trickle of the stream a few feet from where she laid.

She saw a scene in her head. She recognised herself in the image, but she was different, more innocent. Her hair was cut short and she wore strange clothes. She realised that this must have been the image that Kaito saw, that she was seeing herself in the future. She was on a basketball court with three guys. From the way they moved two of them were shapeshifters, and the other one was a vampire. There was a female vampire watching them play from the side lines.

The blonde said something as he shot a basket which made all of them laugh. The raven haired vampire ran up to the future Sakura and passed her the ball, signalling for her to start the game off again. He had a small smile on his face as he looked down at her. She had never seen anyone look at her like that in one hundred and sixty four years. Not since her birth family found out about her illness.

The vampire looked a lot like Kaito Uchiha, maybe a relative? She felt peaceful as she watched the scene, like there was no danger in the world, no one wanting to kill her. One name repeated itself in her head. It was there even after the scene faded to nothingness. She had never heard the name before but it had a sense of familiarity about it.

_Sasuke…_

* * *

The last memory of Sakura's former life made her lose her breath. Her relationship with Sasuke was destined, they were meant to be together. Even before he had been born his fate had been written.

That last memory must have been the Ruler's vision that he was talking about before they both died. She remembered the peace that she felt before her heart stopped, it was like nobody was going to attack her, and nobody wanted to kill her. She didn't have to watch her back every second of the day.

"I'm going to kill her!" Fugaku's voice made her jump. She wasn't expecting the yell in the silence of the dark cells.

So she really did murder his father. _I'm so sorry_, she thought. Grief overwhelmed her. She mourned over all those who she had killed without a seconds thought. She fell to her knees, her past victims faces rushing to her vision.

"I'm so sorry…" She whispered out loud, tears falling down her face. She knew the Ruler could hear her. She was crumpled by grief when Fugaku stormed up to the cell bars and yanked them open. He would have continued inside if it wasn't for someone blocking his path.

"Father, please! She's not going to hurt anyone." Sasuke said, holding him back.

"I think she's too caught up in her memories to even think about anything else." Itachi's voice reached her ears.

"You've brought back the monster, Sasuke. How _dare_ you!" He shoved past Sasuke and leapt with his fangs bared towards the trembling girl huddled in the corner, red eyes wide. Sasuke moved with lightning speed and placed his hands on his father's shoulders, stopping him from moving a step further into the cell.

"I won't let you hurt her. I know her, she won't harm anyone."

"You _knew_ her, you don't know her now! I saw that monster kill my own father."

"I'm sorry." Sakura choked. "Please forgive me. I will kill Orochimaru for you." She was the only one who could kill him, or aid his assassination. She knew his habits, his hideouts, and his fighting style. He's the one who taught her everything she knew. She would eliminate him and finally bring peace to the supernatural world.

"Do they look like the eyes of someone who could kill an innocent person?" Itachi asked, walking over towards Sakura. Despite the fact that her eyes were deep red in colour due to the change, they were not heartless.

Sakura pulled herself up to her feet. "Your father sacrificed himself so that I could live. So that I could kill him. You know he experienced visions."

"But your bond-"

"My bond," Sakura interrupted, "between Orochimaru and I has been weakened. Sasuke was the one who made me a vampire in this life. Please let me try. I'm not the murderer I was, I promise. Don't let your father die in vain."

* * *

**The second part of chapter eleven! Karin will be making an appearance in the next one, and Sasuke too. ^_^**

**Don't forget to review!**


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